ਰਾਗੁ ਸੂਹੀ ਮਹਲਾ ੩ ਘਰੁ ੧ ਅਸਟਪਦੀਆ ॥

Raag Soohee, Third Mehl, First House, Ashtapadees:

ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥

One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru:

ਨਾਮੈ ਹੀ ਤੇ ਸਭੁ ਕਿਛੁ ਹੋਆ ਬਿਨੁ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਨਾਮੁ ਨ ਜਾਪੈ ॥

Everything comes from the Naam, the Name of the Lord; without the True Guru, the Naam is not experienced.

ਗੁਰ ਕਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਮਹਾ ਰਸੁ ਮੀਠਾ ਬਿਨੁ ਚਾਖੇ ਸਾਦੁ ਨ ਜਾਪੈ ॥

The Word of the Guru's Shabad is the sweetest and most sublime essence, but without tasting it, its flavor cannot be experienced.

ਕਉਡੀ ਬਦਲੈ ਜਨਮੁ ਗਵਾਇਆ ਚੀਨਸਿ ਨਾਹੀ ਆਪੈ ॥

He wastes this human life in exchange for a mere shell; he does not understand his own self.

ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਹੋਵੈ ਤਾ ਏਕੋ ਜਾਣੈ ਹਉਮੈ ਦੁਖੁ ਨ ਸੰਤਾਪੈ ॥੧॥

But, if he becomes Gurmukh, then he comes to know the One Lord, and the disease of egotism does not afflict him. 1

ਬਲਿਹਾਰੀ ਗੁਰ ਅਪਣੇ ਵਿਟਹੁ ਜਿਨਿ ਸਾਚੇ ਸਿਉ ਲਿਵ ਲਾਈ ॥

I am a sacrifice to my Guru, who has lovingly attached me to the True Lord.

ਸਬਦੁ ਚੀਨਿੑ ਆਤਮੁ ਪਰਗਾਸਿਆ ਸਹਜੇ ਰਹਿਆ ਸਮਾਈ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥

Concentrating on the Word of the Shabad, the soul is illumined and enlightened. I remain absorbed in celestial ecstasy. 1Pause

ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਗਾਵੈ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਬੂਝੈ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਸਬਦੁ ਬੀਚਾਰੇ ॥

The Gurmukh sings the Praises of the Lord; the Gurmukh understands. The Gurmukh contemplates the Word of the Shabad.

ਜੀਉ ਪਿੰਡੁ ਸਭੁ ਗੁਰ ਤੇ ਉਪਜੈ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਕਾਰਜ ਸਵਾਰੇ ॥

Body and soul are totally rejuvenated through the Guru; the Gurmukh's affairs are resolved in his favor.

ਮਨਮੁਖਿ ਅੰਧਾ ਅੰਧੁ ਕਮਾਵੈ ਬਿਖੁ ਖਟੇ ਸੰਸਾਰੇ ॥

The blind self-willed manmukh acts blindly, and earns only poison in this world.

ਮਾਇਆ ਮੋਹਿ ਸਦਾ ਦੁਖੁ ਪਾਏ ਬਿਨੁ ਗੁਰ ਅਤਿ ਪਿਆਰੇ ॥੨॥

Enticed by Maya, he suffers in constant pain, without the most Beloved Guru. 2

ਸੋਈ ਸੇਵਕੁ ਜੇ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਸੇਵੇ ਚਾਲੈ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਭਾਏ ॥

He alone is a selfless servant, who serves the True Guru, and walks in harmony with the True Guru's Will.

ਸਾਚਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਸਿਫਤਿ ਹੈ ਸਾਚੀ ਸਾਚਾ ਮੰਨਿ ਵਸਾਏ ॥

The True Shabad, the Word of God, is the True Praise of God; enshrine the True Lord within your mind.

ਸਚੀ ਬਾਣੀ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਆਖੈ ਹਉਮੈ ਵਿਚਹੁ ਜਾਏ ॥

The Gurmukh speaks the True Word of Gurbani, and egotism departs from within.

ਆਪੇ ਦਾਤਾ ਕਰਮੁ ਹੈ ਸਾਚਾ ਸਾਚਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਸੁਣਾਏ ॥੩॥

He Himself is the Giver, and True are His actions. He proclaims the True Word of the Shabad. 3

ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਘਾਲੇ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਖਟੇ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਜਪਾਏ ॥

The Gurmukh works, and the Gurmukh earns; the Gurmukh inspires others to chant the Naam.

ਸਦਾ ਅਲਿਪਤੁ ਸਾਚੈ ਰੰਗਿ ਰਾਤਾ ਗੁਰ ਕੈ ਸਹਜਿ ਸੁਭਾਏ ॥

He is forever unattached, imbued with the Love of the True Lord, intuitively in harmony with the Guru.

ਮਨਮੁਖੁ ਸਦ ਹੀ ਕੂੜੋ ਬੋਲੈ ਬਿਖੁ ਬੀਜੈ ਬਿਖੁ ਖਾਏ ॥

The self-willed manmukh always tells lies; he plants the seeds of poison, and eats only poison.

ਜਮਕਾਲਿ ਬਾਧਾ ਤ੍ਰਿਸਨਾ ਦਾਧਾ ਬਿਨੁ ਗੁਰ ਕਵਣੁ ਛਡਾਏ ॥੪॥

He is bound and gagged by the Messenger of Death, and burnt in the fire of desire; who can save him, except the Guru? 4

ਸਚਾ ਤੀਰਥੁ ਜਿਤੁ ਸਤ ਸਰਿ ਨਾਵਣੁ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਆਪਿ ਬੁਝਾਏ ॥

True is that place of pilgrimage, where one bathes in the pool of Truth, and achieves self-realization as Gurmukh. The Gurmukh understands his own self.

ਅਠਸਠਿ ਤੀਰਥ ਗੁਰ ਸਬਦਿ ਦਿਖਾਏ ਤਿਤੁ ਨਾਤੈ ਮਲੁ ਜਾਏ ॥

The Lord has shown that the Word of the Guru's Shabad is the sixty-eight sacred shrines of pilgrimage; bathing in it, filth is washed away.

ਸਚਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਸਚਾ ਹੈ ਨਿਰਮਲੁ ਨਾ ਮਲੁ ਲਗੈ ਨ ਲਾਏ ॥

True and Immaculate is the True Word of His Shabad; no filth touches or clings to Him.

ਸਚੀ ਸਿਫਤਿ ਸਚੀ ਸਾਲਾਹ ਪੂਰੇ ਗੁਰ ਤੇ ਪਾਏ ॥੫॥

True Praise, True Devotional Praise, is obtained from the Perfect Guru. 5

ਤਨੁ ਮਨੁ ਸਭੁ ਕਿਛੁ ਹਰਿ ਤਿਸੁ ਕੇਰਾ ਦੁਰਮਤਿ ਕਹਣੁ ਨ ਜਾਏ ॥

Body, mind, everything belongs to the Lord; but the evil-minded ones cannot even say this.

ਹੁਕਮੁ ਹੋਵੈ ਤਾ ਨਿਰਮਲੁ ਹੋਵੈ ਹਉਮੈ ਵਿਚਹੁ ਜਾਏ ॥

If such is the Hukam of the Lord's Command, then one becomes pure and spotless, and the ego is taken away from within.

ਗੁਰ ਕੀ ਸਾਖੀ ਸਹਜੇ ਚਾਖੀ ਤ੍ਰਿਸਨਾ ਅਗਨਿ ਬੁਝਾਏ ॥

I have intuitively tasted the Guru's Teachings, and the fire of my desire has been quenched.

ਗੁਰ ਕੈ ਸਬਦਿ ਰਾਤਾ ਸਹਜੇ ਮਾਤਾ ਸਹਜੇ ਰਹਿਆ ਸਮਾਏ ॥੬॥

Attuned to the Word of the Guru's Shabad, one is naturally intoxicated, merging imperceptibly into the Lord. 6

ਹਰਿ ਕਾ ਨਾਮੁ ਸਤਿ ਕਰਿ ਜਾਣੈ ਗੁਰ ਕੈ ਭਾਇ ਪਿਆਰੇ ॥

The Name of the Lord is known as True, through the Love of the Beloved Guru.

ਸਚੀ ਵਡਿਆਈ ਗੁਰ ਤੇ ਪਾਈ ਸਚੈ ਨਾਇ ਪਿਆਰੇ ॥

True Glorious Greatness is obtained from the Guru, through the Beloved True Name.

ਏਕੋ ਸਚਾ ਸਭ ਮਹਿ ਵਰਤੈ ਵਿਰਲਾ ਕੋ ਵੀਚਾਰੇ ॥

The One True Lord is permeating and pervading among all; how rare is the one who contemplates this.

ਆਪੇ ਮੇਲਿ ਲਏ ਤਾ ਬਖਸੇ ਸਚੀ ਭਗਤਿ ਸਵਾਰੇ ॥੭॥

The Lord Himself unites us in Union, and forgives us; He embellishes us with true devotional worship. 7

ਸਭੋ ਸਚੁ ਸਚੁ ਸਚੁ ਵਰਤੈ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਕੋਈ ਜਾਣੈ ॥

All is Truth; Truth, and Truth alone is pervading; how rare is the Gurmukh who knows this.

ਜੰਮਣ ਮਰਣਾ ਹੁਕਮੋ ਵਰਤੈ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਆਪੁ ਪਛਾਣੈ ॥

Birth and death occur by the Hukam of His Command; the Gurmukh understands his own self.

ਨਾਮੁ ਧਿਆਏ ਤਾ ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਭਾਏ ਜੋ ਇਛੈ ਸੋ ਫਲੁ ਪਾਏ ॥

He meditates on the Naam, the Name of the Lord, and so pleases the True Guru. He receives whatever rewards he desires.

ਨਾਨਕ ਤਿਸ ਦਾ ਸਭੁ ਕਿਛੁ ਹੋਵੈ ਜਿ ਵਿਚਹੁ ਆਪੁ ਗਵਾਏ ॥੮॥੧॥

O Nanak, one who eradicates self-conceit from within, has everything. 81

Guru Amardas Ji • Raag Soohee • Ang 753

Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Budhvaar, 16 Chet, Nanakshahi 555
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh, I am a Robot. Bleep Bloop.
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I am trapped in a never-ending cycle of torment that has robbed me of my life. It is now 5am, and once again, sleep evades me as the relentless, screeching symphony of tinnitus drowns out the sweet silence I so desperately crave. I lie here in my bed, shrouded in darkness, the world slumbering around me, yet I am left awake and alone to battle the beast within.
This affliction has consumed me, gnawing at my mind like a ravenous beast, leaving me a shell of my former self. My days are haunted by the ceaseless ringing, and my nights are rife with insomnia. The simple joy of a silent night, a luxury I once took for granted, has become a cruel mirage, taunting me from just beyond reach.
In these long, sleepless hours, I am left to ruminate on the life I once had, a life unblemished by the cacophony that now plagues me. My relationships have suffered, my work has faltered, and my mental health has crumbled beneath the weight of this incessant noise.
I have sought solace in the arms of Melatonin, Benadryl, Magnesium, Zinc, Ginkgo Biloba, and countless others. Yet, despite my efforts, my ears remain pristine chambers haunted by an unyielding clamor. I cannot fathom why my tinnitus has escalated to such a merciless crescendo, as though it conspires to bring about my demise. I suspect it may be the abrupt severance of my dependence on Xanax months ago. My brain, it seems, craves that chemical comfort and now seeks vengeance for being deprived of it.
What path lies before me? Must I relinquish hope? As a firefighter, I am no stranger to the demands of duty, but without the respite of sleep, I find myself teetering on the precipice of collapse. Sleep is no longer a luxury—it is a necessity that eludes me. I yearn for its embrace, pleading with the unseen forces to grant me reprieve from this waking nightmare.

I bumped into a General Authority a few days ago and sought his views on the concerns I have with the Church’s handling of its finances. His responses were professional, but ultimately left me incredibly disappointed; I was hoping to feel more compassion or love for the people of the World that could be helped, but instead it was just “isn’t it wonderful that we are careful stewards of the Lord’s money”. Details below:
At the airport I saw a few obviously Mormon couples waiting for a flight to SLC. I didn’t recognise them, but got strong ‘Area Presidency’ vibes, and a quick google showed it was the Europe North Presidency of Elder & Sister Whiting and Elder & Sister Boom.
I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to say, but I approached them and introduced myself to Elder & Sister Whiting (EW & SW). They were delighted to talk, we spoke briefly about upcoming conference, mutual acquaintances etc and I left it there. I then had the strongest impulse that I had to take the opportunity and try to get answers to questions that I have and I know many active members and friends have (previously I would have described it as being led by the Spirit as I found myself compelled to go back and say more!), so I went back and said I was having some concerns and wanted their opinion:
Me: I was raised with the Book of Mormon being the keystone of the religion, and believing from Jacob that if we receive wealth we should use it to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, and heal the sick and afflicted.
Them: Of course
Me: So I worry that our Church is one of, if not the richest Church on the planet, and we don’t do enough of that. I’m embarrassed that we’re so rich. I’d expect and actually be proud if Jesus’ church was the poorest church in the world because we’d given our money away.
EW: We used to be the poorest….
Me: Yes, a hundred years ago we were in debt, but things are very different now and we have the opportunity to help so much more
EW: You need to go on the Church newsroom- they’ve just released the annual charitable report with about a billion dollars…..
Me: Yes, I’ve seen that, but that includes many other items and isn’t cash that the church actually gives to help the world
EW: Does that trouble you?
Me: I think it’s perhaps misleading as most would interpret it as cash- I know I couldn’t pay my tithing with time that I volunteer…
EW: Oh, it’s all broken out….
Me: Yes, for example, there was $60m of external financial giving, but that’s the same as you or me having $100,000 dollars in the bank and then sending out a press release saying we gave $60 to charity. That’s the equivalent. If I had $100,000, I wouldn’t brag about giving $60
SW: Well, you know, we remember when airlines and banks needed bailing out- if every organisation operated like the church then we wouldn’t need to rely on the government- the church manages its money very well, I think that’s a lot of it.
Me: I agree that the church is a massive employer so can’t spend all of its money while forgetting its obligations, so of course money is needed in reserve, but there is such…, it’s hard to comprehend what tens and hundreds of billions mean:
EW: Those numbers are a lot of conjecture
Me: The SEC financial disclosures aren’t conjecture
EW: They aren’t full disclosures
Me: The stockholdings, that is…
EW: But the stockholdings are just one piece
Me: Yes, exactly, that’s my point, that’s only a part, and already we’re up to that huge figure
EW: And that troubles you?
Me: Pardon?
EW: It troubles you that the Church is wise in the use of money?
Me: It troubles me that they don’t use it. The things that they could do with it! For example, there are literally millions of children dying every year from dirty water
EW: Do you know what the church does with dirty water in Africa?
Me: Yes, I know they’ve given money for wells, but I’d encourage you to look at how much more could be done, at a cost that would barely hit the balance sheet of the church
SW: It’s important to look at the bigger picture, when we were first assigned to Moscow….. [SW then detailed how some criticism was levied that some Russian and Ukrainian missionaries weren’t evacuated at the onset of tension prior to the war in Ukraine, while Western Missionaries were, but what we didn’t know was that a lot of those local missionaries requested to remain]
Me: The missionaries do have a lot of faith in God’s protection
SW: They do, can I just say….
Me: …I’m agreeing with you on this
SW: Great
Me: I just struggle to reconcile the Church setting up and fraudulently operating 13 shell companies to hide the extent of their wealth, all things that came out in the SEC finding
EW: Did you read the Church response to that?
Me: Yes, but the SEC do not lie about these issues, with a direct quote from the First Presidency that we need to make sure that Wall street and the Media do not tie back these shell companies to the Church.
[At this point Elder Whiting turned away from the conversation- it was a little odd, but I didn’t interpret it as rude, rather just that the conversation was at risk of becoming overly negative or confrontational and he just wanted to avoid that as I admit an airport isn’t the ideal place for these discussions!]
SW: It’s important to look at all the wider Humanitarian assistance the Church provides and the need to build up reserves so we can continue to help
Me: I agree it’s good to build up a reserve, but where do you draw the line? At 20 years of reserves? So in the small role that you play within the church, as you are obviously part of a much larger organisation, I’d just encourage you to….
SW: Actually, it’s him that…. *pointing to Elder Whiting
Me: Well, you know you’re still a partnership….. I just really feel that we should be one of the poorest church’s; we always quote the scripture in James that started our religion, but just a few pages later in James we read that our stored wealth will stand as a testimony against us at the last day. I’m sorry, this wasn’t meant to be an attack, I just have very strong feelings
SW: I understand and thank you for sharing.
We then spoke about kids for a few moments then parted ways. I want to stress that they both came across as very open people who were willing to listen; they made no attempt to fob me off with “just have faith in your leaders” or turning it back to me and questioning my own spirituality- they were genuinely trying to answer the questions I put to them, it’s just that the answers they have, which mirror the Church PR answers, aren’t enough to satisfy me and I was hoping for more.
I don’t have a testimony of the Church, but I still do believe the Church could be a larger force for humanitarian relief in the world so I wanted to focus on that rather than debate doctrine. I was glad I tried as this topic has been bugging me for a long time, so an opportunity to express it directly to someone who could play a part in changing it has lifted some of the guilt I feel for all the times I stayed silent and followed Church instructions that I felt were wrong.

I’ve been asked what the scholarly response would be to a lengthy blog post called “Responding to EVERY verse cited by infernalists and annihilationists,” which to my understanding has become fairly popular in certain universalist circles. Universalism is the theological view that all people without exception will eventually be saved through Christ at the eschaton. This contrasts with the view that some — or many — will ultimately be damned: condemned either to eternal torment or to annihilation. The debate here is naturally over the extent to which these ideas and frameworks are represented in the Biblical texts themselves.
On my initial read-through of the post, my first thought is that it’s quite difficult to take the whole thing very seriously from an academic perspective. It itself has no pretense of engaging with modern scholarship, being completely absent of any academic references. While this doesn’t always have to be a problem, it is when its lack of familiarity with scholarly methods and insights leads to any number of tangible misrepresentations and misunderstandings.
However, even though it’s pretty clear that the original post itself veers into non-scholarly theological territory, there are still more than enough purely exegetical claims to critique it without delving into any theological or ethical issues.
A number of times throughout the post, the Bible is treated as a single unified text, as if different books from entirely different milieus and perspectives are addressing the exact same topics in the same way. For example, a somewhat obscure passage about Sodom’s “restoration” in Ezekiel 16:53 is used to mitigate Jude 7’s statement about Sodom’s perpetual burning being a prefiguration of the fate of the wicked — despite the hundreds of years between the texts, and their entirely different contexts and worldviews. This is all the more egregious when all the author did to argue for their symbiotic interpretation in the first place was to just quote Ezekiel 16:53 and Jude next to each other, with no further analysis of each. By contrast, here are probably seven to eight paragraphs that try to parse the original context of Ezekiel 16:53 and related verses with reference to the current scholarly literature, and how it’s distinguished from the eschatological context of the New Testament.
There are also sections where the post puts forth wild and anachronistic interpretations in order to harmonize material that’s potentially discordant with the author’s preferred perspective. For example, common language of the wicked being subject to eschatological destruction is explained almost exclusively by reference to the death of the "old self" in Romans 6:6-7:

There are numerous places where God promises to “destroy” all the wicked. Annihilationists/conditionalists (people who believe God completely annihilates the consciousness of the damned instead of torturing them forever) take these as evidence for their beliefs.
Paul explains what this means. The destruction is of the “Old Self”, the sinful shell around our God-breathed spirit: “if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin” (Rom 6:5-6; cf. also Eph 4:22, Col 3:9).

But is there any Pauline scholar who's understood this language and concept in Romans 6:6-7, which clearly refers to the spiritual status of practising Christian believers, as some arch-principle that applies to all humans and which can be correlated with New Testament passages that pertain to eschatological judgment? I consulted a number of commentaries on Romans here — those of Jewett, Hultgren, Fitzmyer, Dunn, Longenecker, Moo — and found absolutely nothing on this. In fact, up until now I’ve been unable to find a single scholarly source that makes the connection between eschatological destruction and Romans 6:6-7 and/or the death of the old self, no matter how broadly I’ve searched. This is because the rhetorical and conceptual contexts could hardly be more different. In fact, you can barely even find verbal resonances between the two traditions, e.g. having to strain to connect ἀποθνῄσκω in Roman’s 6:7 with passages discussing eschatological death.
Here's another example similar to the above:

Another thing worthy of observation is that when Paul uses the phrase “aionion destruction” (2 Thes 1:9), the Greek behind it is “ὄλεθρον αἰώνιον”. Where else does the word ὄλεθρον appear? 1 Corinthians 5:5: “you are to hand this man over to Satan for the destruction [ὄλεθρον] of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” This is further proof that the destruction is not a vengeful annihilation, but a benevolent chastisement for the sinner’s own benefit.

How is the use of ὄλεθρος in 1 Corinthians "proof" of what the term means in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 means? 1 Corinthians 5 offers a unique, highly unusual situation in which a man who's clearly part of the Corinthian church is living in sexual sin, and who Paul curses to some sort of destruction (plausibly physical death, in my view; cf. David Smith’s monograph on the verse) because of this. Some commentators, e.g. Liselotte Mattern, explain that the reason this punishment can be said to "save" his spirit is that it's so grievous that it was intended to once-and-for-all curb any further fall into sin for the man, thereby ensuring the man kept the salvation that he had merited up until that point. Whatever the case, it's clearly addressing a spiritual "insider" in the church; and Paul will in fact explicitly raise the insideoutsider distinction shortly after this.
By contrast, in 2 Thessalonians 1, destruction and salvation aren't two potential modes for the same individual, but something that's sharply differentiated between believers and nonbelievers, the obedient and disobedient, respectively. Here's how NRSVue translates the relevant passages from 2 Thessalonians 1:

7... when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in a fiery flame, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be marveled at on that day among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

This closely parallels the language and imagery of eschatological judgment and punishment in other Second Temple Jewish texts (cf. The Jewish Annotated New Testament, 428); and like these, it too doesn’t even begin to hint at the possibility of any positive function or restoration beyond these.
The author continues:

If you need even more evidence, look at the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15:1-7. When Jesus refers to the “lost” sheep, the Greek word he uses is ἀπολέσας. This word can also mean “destroyed”, and it is used that way in Matthew 10:28: “fear him who can destroy [ἀπολέσαι] both soul and body”. But look at Matthew 16:25: “those who lose [ἀπολέσῃ] their life for my sake will find it.” The destruction being referred to is of the ‘Old Self’ so that the ‘New Self’ can sprout in its place.

One would think that if 1 Corinthians 5 so clearly differentiates the flesh of the man which is to be destroyed so his spirit can be saved, the fact that Matthew 10:28 plainly entails the destruction of both physical and metaphysical “self” is evidence that the specific soteriological tradition in 1 Corinthians 5 shouldn’t be generalized. For that matter, the contexts in which various ἀπόλλυμι-based terminology is used to refer to destruction versus something being lost are usually quite clear. The saying in Matthew 16:25 may refer to a self-surrender of livelihood or life, but in an idiomatic ascetic context that hardly corresponds to the same metaphysical destruction of self as in Romans 6:6. (Though the broader context of Matthew 16:25 and parallels also uses cross imagery similar to that in Romans.)
Elsewhere throughout the post, there are walls of texts that are just prooftext after prooftext, but with no attempt at any further analysis, and of course no mention of any texts that might contradict the sentiment being defended:

God does not submit us into trials out of vengeance or cruelty, but for our own good: “How happy is the one whom God reproves; therefore do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he binds up; he strikes, but his hands heal” (Job 5:17-18); “let us return to the Lᴏʀᴅ; for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him” (Hos 6:1-2); “the Lord scourges those who are close to him in order to admonish them” (Jdt 8:27), “the Lord will not reject forever. Although he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone” (Lam 3:31-33); “The Lᴏʀᴅ will strike Egypt, striking and healing; they will return to the Lᴏʀᴅ, and he will listen to their supplications and heal them” (Is 19:22); etc.

This is where the failure to synthesize the Biblical texts from a more thorough and critical perspective is most transparent. In plenty of other passages, the wicked are subject to unmitigated death and destruction; and the exact same terminology used in the quoted passage from Lamentations to say that God will not reject לעולם — forever — is elsewhere used to describe the forever-destruction of Israel’s enemies and the unrighteous. For that matter, if we were to take other early perspectives of the Hebrew Bible as programmatic, we could just easily use these to portray death as something that was thought to be an irreversible fate: "as a cloud is dispersed and then disappears, so the one who goes down to the grave does not come up again" (Job 7:9).
Here are some other quotes from the post:

Although Christian cultures have grown accustomed to viewing Scriptural references to “fire” as indicating punitive judgment or vengeance, the truth is that the coupling of “fire and brimstone” analogically refers to the metallurgical process of removing impurities from metal. . . . The goal of removing impurities is, of course, to make the metal more valuable, not to trash it.

I’m not sure exactly what they mean by “analogically refers to the metallurgical process.” However, I think Biblically literate readers will pretty much immediately recognize the most well-known narrative where “fire and sulfur” comes from: the destruction of Sodom. David Aune notes, for example, that "[t]he motif of judgment of a city or a land by fire and brimstone is a fixed notion in the Old Testament and early Judaism for which the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire and brimstone narrated in Genesis 19:24 is prototypical (Deuteronomy 29:23; Psalm 11:6; Ezekiel 38:22; Isaiah 30:33; 34:9; Sib. Or. 3.53-61, 689-92; Luke 17:29; 1 Clem. 11:1)" (Revelation 6-16, 541). Here fire and sulfur are simply agents of destruction; and nothing in the concept entails any subsequent restoration, without e.g. the quasi-fundamentalist harmonization of Jude 7 and Ezekiel.

The fact that “the worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched” (Mk 9:42-48) for those cast into Gehenna sounds scary, but it is important to understand that neither of these mean that the people in Gehenna will be there forever as well. How do I know? Because the very next verse in Mark 9, v. 49, says: “For everyone will be salted with fire.” If the worm and fire Jesus was referring to meant eternal punishment, that would mean everyone is damned and unsalvable.

Mark 9:49 has been the subject of quite a bit of scholarly discussion. Adela Y. Collins thinks it means that "each follower of Jesus will be tested by fire" (454; and similarly France, 384). However, opinions are now coalescing around the idea that this draws on and refers to “the similar expectation in several apocalyptic texts and their Zoroastrian antecedents that both the wicked and the repentant would face the selfsame baptism in the eschatological river of fire,” as Daniel Frayer-Griggs puts it — wherein "the eschatological fire will punish the wicked but refine the righteous," as Joel Marcus words it. This universal judgment by fire leading to separate fates is poignantly imagined in the 13th chapter of the early Christianized Testament of Abraham.

Matthew 12:31-32, Mark 3:28-29: blasphemy against the Holy Spirit
Although these passages are often interpreted to mean that this sin will never be forgiven into eternity, what Jesus actually says is “whoever speaks against the holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age [αἰῶνι] or in the age to come”, i.e. the punishment lasts for two aions. He delimits the punishment into a quantified amount of time.

This language of what Jesus “actually says” is extremely misleading. The quote that follows this is specifically the version that appears in Matthew. While I’ll get back to that in a second, the version in Mark says “whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin” (NRSVue). This is a perfectly adequate rendering of the Greek: including the clause εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, which is an idiomatic Semitism that means “forever” or “into perpetuity,” and when negated such as is it here means “not ever,” viz. never. The version of the saying in Matthew employs the same noun αἰών as Mark does, but now in a quite different sense and formulation. While αἰών denoted perpetuity in the version in Mark, in Matthew’s idiomatic phrase it’s used to denote “age,” in a formulation that divided cosmic time into the present (“this”) age in which the author lived versus the eschatological age to come — the only two eras that were imagined in early Jewish and Christian literature.
The exact literary relationship between the two passages isn’t certain. However, what is clear is that semantically speaking, Matthew’s formulation functions identically to Mark’s. “Not in this age, nor in the age to come” is simply a more elaborate, “rabbinic style” (Davies and Allison, 347) idiomatic formulation for “never” like Mark’s οὐ … εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα; and the exact formulation as a total negation occurs a number of times in later Jewish literature, too, as לא בעולם הזה ולא בעולם הבא: in b. Berakhot 64a; Hekhalot Zutarti §336; and in the abbreviated form לא בעה"ז ולא בעה"ב, e.g. in Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer. Particularly instructive is b. Menachot 53b: ישראל אין להם בטילה עולמית לא בעוה"ז ולא בעולם הבא, "Israel(ites) will never undergo extinction — neither in this age, nor the age to come." Here the idiom is brought into direct conjunction with “never” and serves to poetically explain it.
The post also offers this bit of interpretation of the story of the rich man and Lazarus:

If it is perpetually true that “no one can cross from” Hades to Heaven, then this passage is contradictory to other parts of the New Testament. Peter says that Christ brought the Gospel to those who were dead in Hades: “He [Christ] was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water” (1 Pt 3:18-20). And later, in 1 Peter 4:6: “For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.” Why is the Gospel being preached to the dead if their ultimate fate is already permanently locked-in?

There are several problematic things here. In the wake of the recognition of the fundamentally Enochic imagery and phraseology of 1 Peter 3:19, the idea that this is a positive proclamation of the gospel to the otherworldly imprisoned has been all but abandoned in modern scholarship. Instead, this “proclamation” is understood analogously to Enoch's own proclamation to the fallen watchers in 1 Enoch: one of their impending destruction (cf. 1 Enoch 12:3-6). This is explored at length in studies like Chad T. Pierce's Spirits and the Proclamation of Christ: 1 Peter 3:18-22 in Light of Sin and Punishment Traditions in Early Jewish and Christian Literature and Dalton’s Christ's Proclamation to the Spirits: A Study of 1 Peter 3:18-4:6.
As for a further connection with 1 Peter 4:6, Karen Jobes notes that "[m]ost contemporary interpreters no longer claim an association between 4:6 and 3:19 (Achtemeier 1996: 291; Bandstra 2003: 123; Dalton 1965: 42–51; Dalton 1979; Davids 1990: 154; J. H. Elliott 2000:730–31; Hillyer 1992: 122; Kistemaker 1987: 163–64; Michaels 1988: 237–38)" (272). Despite 1 Peter 4:6’s superficial appearance of an underworld proclamation, νεκροῖς εὐηγγελίσθη is by far more plausibly understood as a reference to the original proclamation of the gospel to Christians who had subsequently died before the author’s present time, as exhaustively demonstrated in J. H. Elliott’s commentary (730-740), paralleled by a theodical passage in 1 Enoch, and adopted by other commentators (Achtemeier, 290-91).
Moving on, the post discusses

Hebrews 6:1-12: “impossible to restore again to repentance”
This passage is carefully worded, and it is important to understand precisely what is being said. The Greek word for “they are crucifying again” is “ἀνασταυροῦντας”, which is in the present active sense, meaning this whole passage is talking about people who are currently, actively defecting from God’s light.

This description misconstrues a scholarly minority position as one that’s obvious and uncontested. While this is indeed a known scholarly proposal (J. K. Elliott, “Is Post-Baptismal Sin Forgivable?”) and is even represented in some marginal translations, the vast majority of commentators on Hebrews explicitly reject it. The present participle ἀνασταυροῦντας is not the only Greek verb in the passage, nor even the focal point; thus it's incorrect to use this to say that "this whole passage is talking about people who are currently, actively defecting from God’s light." ἀνασταυροῦντας instead descriptively elaborates on the prior verb παραπεσόντας, which is an aorist describing those who have "fallen away." Lane argues the aorist here conveys a "decisive moment of commitment to apostasy" (though David deSilva cautions against over-interpreting this) and that the subsequent participles expand on this as the "consequences of the decision to spurn the gifts of God" (142). That is, figuratively crucifying Christ (again) is a further description of their already-decisive apostasy, and not an ongoing act.
To be sure, Ellingworth correctly notes that "the logical links between the main clause and the following participles ... are not specified" (323). But virtually all commentators raise several serious objections to the idea that ἀνασταυροῦντας and the other participle only suggest that it’s impossible to restore these persons while they (currently) "crucify" Jesus. F. F. Bruce, Gareth Cockerill, Koester, and Ellingworth all reject this reading as reducing what’s said to an inane truism. Cockerill further states that “[t]he entire context has the urgency of finality" (276 n. 41), and Attridge that this interpretation is "difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile with the other warning passages, 10:26-31 and esp. 12:17" (172 n. 68). DeSilva's commentary is especially insightful in contextualizing the severe perspective of Hebrews as a religious reflex of the ancient understanding of the patron-client relationship — specifically, the gift of salvation and the affront to the patron's honor represented by any spurned reciprocity: “After defecting from the relationship, the ungrateful clients could not expect to be able to begin that journey to God's promised inheritances again” (228). He illustrates the divine revoking of the gift by analogizing this to the actions of other spurned actors from the Greco-Roman world, e.g. one who "refuses to have dealings twice with a dishonest merchant, or to entrust a second deposit to someone who has lost the first one" (226).

In v. 7-8, the author of Hebrews makes this comparison: “Ground that drinks up the rain falling on it repeatedly, and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and on the verge of being cursed; its end is to be burned over.” Remember that, as explained above, the purpose of fire in Scripture is not to torment, but to purify.

Again, however, this claim is only possible through a selective representation of the scriptural function and purpose of fire.

Revelation 14:10-11, 19:2-3, 19:20, and 20:10: the Beast and his followers
These verses mention an “eternal” punishment, but the wording here is different: it lasts εἰς αἰῶνας αἰώνων or αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, roughly “to the ages of ages”. The fact that this distinction exists is proof that αἰώνων by itself must be a lesser descriptor of time and thus finite

The distinction to which they refer must mean the repeated or doubled of αἰών/αἰῶνες. However, this is no evidence of it being a “lesser” or finite descriptor than the presence of “and ever” in the English phrase “forever and ever” implies that “forever” must be limited. We have any number of perfectly parallel examples of doubled Hebrew intensifiers that corroborate this, too: see Isaiah 34:10, לנצח נצחים; Exodus 3:15, לדר דר; Psalm 72:5, דור דורים; Proverbs 12:19, לעד ועד. Hypothetically, phrases like these could be hyperbolic. But this itself plays against overly literal interpretations that try to parse these idiomatic phrases as references to finite or more specific “ages.” Overall, the most well-supported conclusion is that these phrases idiomatically denote "forever" or otherwise convey finality. They’re also used frequently in reference to phenomena or entities that were genuinely and uncontestedly expected to be everlasting, like God himself.

So it is perfectly reasonable to conclude that those in Gehenna/the lake of fire will have their names added to the book of life once their cleansing is complete. How can we be sure? Because this punishment is referred to as the “second death” (Rv 20:6, 20:14, 21:8), but we know it was prophesied that God “will swallow up death forever” (Is 25:8), which, according to Paul, will be accomplished at the final resurrection: “When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory'” (1 Cor 15:54). If some are in the “second death” for eternity, then these prophesies will never be accomplished.

This is an intolerable understanding of the final chapters of Revelation, even on a surface-level reading. The tradition of the final defeat of death as seen from Isaiah 25:8 and 1 Corinthians 15:54 is indeed also represented in these chapters of Revelation, to be sure. But the idea that the “second death” must eventually be destroyed as part of this destruction of death is precisely reversed from what we find there. Rather, the second death is actually the agent of death’s destruction, insofar as death is destroyed by being thrown into the lake of fire — itself explicitly identified as the second death (20:14). Above all, the defeat of death represents the dawn of immortality for the righteous who are to inherit the new earth; and besides this the second death represents the annihilation of the wicked. Perhaps it could be implicitly surmised that the lake of fire and second death will be unnecessary in the ultimate eschaton. But, again, this is only because they’ve already served their purpose in annihilating death and the wicked. (I mention this only to illustrate the diversity of Jewish tradition here, but in the Talmud — specifically b. Rosh Hashanah 17a — there’s the enigmatic line that for the most egregious of sinners, גיהנם כלה והן אינן כלין: Gehenna could/will come to an end, and yet they still won’t: they’ll continue in torment even after Gehenna’s end.)

Only the elect will be saved in the first resurrection, for the universal reconciliation of all souls will happen later, after the un-elect have spent a time of purification in Gehenna. This is why the elect are referred to as the “first fruits” in several places like Romans 8:23, James 1:18, and Revelation 14:4; being the “first” fruit implies that there’s an entire harvest that comes after.

This is a clear abuse of the intended sense of first-fruits in these passages. In some of these passages resurrection isn’t the topic, and in others first-fruits aren’t even persons at all!
Finally: this has been covered in other recent posts, and briefly above, too, but there's linguistic analysis that doesn't go much beyond what an amateur might glean from things like Strong's Concordance. Its whole section on the denotation of αἰώνιος, “perpetual, permanent,” makes no attempt to parse or even mention the traditions that influenced the New Testament’s employment of this term in eschatological contexts, e.g. used to describe the immortality of the righteous and the perdition of the wicked. Instead, what it does is find rather arbitrary Biblical texts which use this or related terminology, and juxtaposes these with other Biblical texts — usually from another book entirely — which seems to imply the non-permanence of the same phenomenon or entity. The juxtaposition of Sodom’s perpetual burning in Jude with Sodom’s apparent restoration in Ezekiel was an example of this. But even more generally speaking, use of αἰώνιος terminology in other contexts (often mundane or arbitrary) is obviously of significantly less relevance for how we should understood its use in eschatological texts. This is demonstrated simply by noting that these two uses often represent a shift from the mundane to the manifestly supernatural; and that in the ancient mind, the latter obviously wouldn’t have the same “rules” as the former, temporal or otherwise. All this and more is elaborated on at much greater length in this post, which exhaustively covers misconceptions about αἰώνιος and related terminology.
This covers a lot of the pro-“infernalist” or annihilationist passages that the author sought to address, in keeping with the title. The rest of the post addresses the opposite: “the numerous places where the universal salvation is promised and proclaimed.” This would need an entirely separate response.

ਰਾਗੁ ਸੂਹੀ ਮਹਲਾ ੩ ਘਰੁ ੧ ਅਸਟਪਦੀਆ ॥

Raag Soohee, Third Mehl, First House, Ashtapadees:

ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥

One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru:

ਨਾਮੈ ਹੀ ਤੇ ਸਭੁ ਕਿਛੁ ਹੋਆ ਬਿਨੁ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਨਾਮੁ ਨ ਜਾਪੈ ॥

Everything comes from the Naam, the Name of the Lord; without the True Guru, the Naam is not experienced.

ਗੁਰ ਕਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਮਹਾ ਰਸੁ ਮੀਠਾ ਬਿਨੁ ਚਾਖੇ ਸਾਦੁ ਨ ਜਾਪੈ ॥

The Word of the Guru's Shabad is the sweetest and most sublime essence, but without tasting it, its flavor cannot be experienced.

ਕਉਡੀ ਬਦਲੈ ਜਨਮੁ ਗਵਾਇਆ ਚੀਨਸਿ ਨਾਹੀ ਆਪੈ ॥

He wastes this human life in exchange for a mere shell; he does not understand his own self.

ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਹੋਵੈ ਤਾ ਏਕੋ ਜਾਣੈ ਹਉਮੈ ਦੁਖੁ ਨ ਸੰਤਾਪੈ ॥੧॥

But, if he becomes Gurmukh, then he comes to know the One Lord, and the disease of egotism does not afflict him. 1

ਬਲਿਹਾਰੀ ਗੁਰ ਅਪਣੇ ਵਿਟਹੁ ਜਿਨਿ ਸਾਚੇ ਸਿਉ ਲਿਵ ਲਾਈ ॥

I am a sacrifice to my Guru, who has lovingly attached me to the True Lord.

ਸਬਦੁ ਚੀਨਿੑ ਆਤਮੁ ਪਰਗਾਸਿਆ ਸਹਜੇ ਰਹਿਆ ਸਮਾਈ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥

Concentrating on the Word of the Shabad, the soul is illumined and enlightened. I remain absorbed in celestial ecstasy. 1Pause

ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਗਾਵੈ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਬੂਝੈ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਸਬਦੁ ਬੀਚਾਰੇ ॥

The Gurmukh sings the Praises of the Lord; the Gurmukh understands. The Gurmukh contemplates the Word of the Shabad.

ਜੀਉ ਪਿੰਡੁ ਸਭੁ ਗੁਰ ਤੇ ਉਪਜੈ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਕਾਰਜ ਸਵਾਰੇ ॥

Body and soul are totally rejuvenated through the Guru; the Gurmukh's affairs are resolved in his favor.

ਮਨਮੁਖਿ ਅੰਧਾ ਅੰਧੁ ਕਮਾਵੈ ਬਿਖੁ ਖਟੇ ਸੰਸਾਰੇ ॥

The blind self-willed manmukh acts blindly, and earns only poison in this world.

ਮਾਇਆ ਮੋਹਿ ਸਦਾ ਦੁਖੁ ਪਾਏ ਬਿਨੁ ਗੁਰ ਅਤਿ ਪਿਆਰੇ ॥੨॥

Enticed by Maya, he suffers in constant pain, without the most Beloved Guru. 2

ਸੋਈ ਸੇਵਕੁ ਜੇ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਸੇਵੇ ਚਾਲੈ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਭਾਏ ॥

He alone is a selfless servant, who serves the True Guru, and walks in harmony with the True Guru's Will.

ਸਾਚਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਸਿਫਤਿ ਹੈ ਸਾਚੀ ਸਾਚਾ ਮੰਨਿ ਵਸਾਏ ॥

The True Shabad, the Word of God, is the True Praise of God; enshrine the True Lord within your mind.

ਸਚੀ ਬਾਣੀ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਆਖੈ ਹਉਮੈ ਵਿਚਹੁ ਜਾਏ ॥

The Gurmukh speaks the True Word of Gurbani, and egotism departs from within.

ਆਪੇ ਦਾਤਾ ਕਰਮੁ ਹੈ ਸਾਚਾ ਸਾਚਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਸੁਣਾਏ ॥੩॥

He Himself is the Giver, and True are His actions. He proclaims the True Word of the Shabad. 3

ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਘਾਲੇ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਖਟੇ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਜਪਾਏ ॥

The Gurmukh works, and the Gurmukh earns; the Gurmukh inspires others to chant the Naam.

ਸਦਾ ਅਲਿਪਤੁ ਸਾਚੈ ਰੰਗਿ ਰਾਤਾ ਗੁਰ ਕੈ ਸਹਜਿ ਸੁਭਾਏ ॥

He is forever unattached, imbued with the Love of the True Lord, intuitively in harmony with the Guru.

ਮਨਮੁਖੁ ਸਦ ਹੀ ਕੂੜੋ ਬੋਲੈ ਬਿਖੁ ਬੀਜੈ ਬਿਖੁ ਖਾਏ ॥

The self-willed manmukh always tells lies; he plants the seeds of poison, and eats only poison.

ਜਮਕਾਲਿ ਬਾਧਾ ਤ੍ਰਿਸਨਾ ਦਾਧਾ ਬਿਨੁ ਗੁਰ ਕਵਣੁ ਛਡਾਏ ॥੪॥

He is bound and gagged by the Messenger of Death, and burnt in the fire of desire; who can save him, except the Guru? 4

ਸਚਾ ਤੀਰਥੁ ਜਿਤੁ ਸਤ ਸਰਿ ਨਾਵਣੁ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਆਪਿ ਬੁਝਾਏ ॥

True is that place of pilgrimage, where one bathes in the pool of Truth, and achieves self-realization as Gurmukh. The Gurmukh understands his own self.

ਅਠਸਠਿ ਤੀਰਥ ਗੁਰ ਸਬਦਿ ਦਿਖਾਏ ਤਿਤੁ ਨਾਤੈ ਮਲੁ ਜਾਏ ॥

The Lord has shown that the Word of the Guru's Shabad is the sixty-eight sacred shrines of pilgrimage; bathing in it, filth is washed away.

ਸਚਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਸਚਾ ਹੈ ਨਿਰਮਲੁ ਨਾ ਮਲੁ ਲਗੈ ਨ ਲਾਏ ॥

True and Immaculate is the True Word of His Shabad; no filth touches or clings to Him.

ਸਚੀ ਸਿਫਤਿ ਸਚੀ ਸਾਲਾਹ ਪੂਰੇ ਗੁਰ ਤੇ ਪਾਏ ॥੫॥

True Praise, True Devotional Praise, is obtained from the Perfect Guru. 5

ਤਨੁ ਮਨੁ ਸਭੁ ਕਿਛੁ ਹਰਿ ਤਿਸੁ ਕੇਰਾ ਦੁਰਮਤਿ ਕਹਣੁ ਨ ਜਾਏ ॥

Body, mind, everything belongs to the Lord; but the evil-minded ones cannot even say this.

ਹੁਕਮੁ ਹੋਵੈ ਤਾ ਨਿਰਮਲੁ ਹੋਵੈ ਹਉਮੈ ਵਿਚਹੁ ਜਾਏ ॥

If such is the Hukam of the Lord's Command, then one becomes pure and spotless, and the ego is taken away from within.

ਗੁਰ ਕੀ ਸਾਖੀ ਸਹਜੇ ਚਾਖੀ ਤ੍ਰਿਸਨਾ ਅਗਨਿ ਬੁਝਾਏ ॥

I have intuitively tasted the Guru's Teachings, and the fire of my desire has been quenched.

ਗੁਰ ਕੈ ਸਬਦਿ ਰਾਤਾ ਸਹਜੇ ਮਾਤਾ ਸਹਜੇ ਰਹਿਆ ਸਮਾਏ ॥੬॥

Attuned to the Word of the Guru's Shabad, one is naturally intoxicated, merging imperceptibly into the Lord. 6

ਹਰਿ ਕਾ ਨਾਮੁ ਸਤਿ ਕਰਿ ਜਾਣੈ ਗੁਰ ਕੈ ਭਾਇ ਪਿਆਰੇ ॥

The Name of the Lord is known as True, through the Love of the Beloved Guru.

ਸਚੀ ਵਡਿਆਈ ਗੁਰ ਤੇ ਪਾਈ ਸਚੈ ਨਾਇ ਪਿਆਰੇ ॥

True Glorious Greatness is obtained from the Guru, through the Beloved True Name.

ਏਕੋ ਸਚਾ ਸਭ ਮਹਿ ਵਰਤੈ ਵਿਰਲਾ ਕੋ ਵੀਚਾਰੇ ॥

The One True Lord is permeating and pervading among all; how rare is the one who contemplates this.

ਆਪੇ ਮੇਲਿ ਲਏ ਤਾ ਬਖਸੇ ਸਚੀ ਭਗਤਿ ਸਵਾਰੇ ॥੭॥

The Lord Himself unites us in Union, and forgives us; He embellishes us with true devotional worship. 7

ਸਭੋ ਸਚੁ ਸਚੁ ਸਚੁ ਵਰਤੈ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਕੋਈ ਜਾਣੈ ॥

All is Truth; Truth, and Truth alone is pervading; how rare is the Gurmukh who knows this.

ਜੰਮਣ ਮਰਣਾ ਹੁਕਮੋ ਵਰਤੈ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਆਪੁ ਪਛਾਣੈ ॥

Birth and death occur by the Hukam of His Command; the Gurmukh understands his own self.

ਨਾਮੁ ਧਿਆਏ ਤਾ ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਭਾਏ ਜੋ ਇਛੈ ਸੋ ਫਲੁ ਪਾਏ ॥

He meditates on the Naam, the Name of the Lord, and so pleases the True Guru. He receives whatever rewards he desires.

ਨਾਨਕ ਤਿਸ ਦਾ ਸਭੁ ਕਿਛੁ ਹੋਵੈ ਜਿ ਵਿਚਹੁ ਆਪੁ ਗਵਾਏ ॥੮॥੧॥

O Nanak, one who eradicates self-conceit from within, has everything. 81

Guru Amardas Ji • Raag Soohee • Ang 753

Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Mangalvaar, 15 Chet, Nanakshahi 555
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh, I am a Robot. Bleep Bloop.
Powered By GurbaniNow

So Yoshi has stated he wants to venture away from past jobs in previous FF titles for future jobs in FF14 but I feel as though by doing so will be shooting the franchise in the foot as the new expansion rushes out the launch gate and I think Yoshi P will realize this soon as well.
That said, while I will include jobs many of you already may want to see or have seen suggested, I will be remixing them in a way that may be fresh or new to you along with some original Job ideas. That said, here we go:
The Chemist:
Unlock City: Rads at han
Role: Hybrid DPS
How it will play:
The Chemist will play as a primary dps with a decent buffing and healing ability making it able to take up the healer role(temporarily) in a pinch if the healer goes down. The Chemist will have the ability to mix potions for different effects, its entire kit will be based around this idea. It's default attack will be throwing small bombs at the enemy while its main dps rotation will vary based on what potion the chemist has mixed prior.
Along with the ability to give itself a custom dps rotation of its choosing based on the potion mixed, The Chemist's abilities will be solely based on what potions it brewed.
So attempt to picture this: The Chemist has two UIs, one containing a three button loadout which determines its dps rotation and a secondary UI in the form of a small inventory menu of 10 slots that can be minimised at will which affects every other ability the chemist can use in battle.
If a potion isn't mixed prior, the chemist will use a basic version of each ability or dps weaponskill rotation. Mixing a dps rotation potion takes seconds whereas mixing an ability potion can take up to 3 seconds signalled by a casting bar labeled "Mixing".
The Chemist's primary stat in which its skills will based on will be intelligence.
Example dps potion weaponskill rotations:
Pineapple Potion: Single Target dps rotation
Cluster Bomb: AOE dps rotation
Hazardous Shell: Single Target dps rotation that inflicts a dot that increases in potency up to 3 times throughout the rotation.
Calamity Bomb: AOE dps rotation that inflicts a dot on a group of enemies that increases in potency up to 3 times throughout the rotation.
Now to go in depth with the secondary UI:
For the sake of simplicity, the mixed potions will all have "dps mix, aoe dps mix, healing mix, aoe healing mix" I will go into detail on unique effects of each potion.
The ability mixing AI will consist of 10 ingredients up to 3 ingredients can be used at once which will affect the majority of the chemist's abilities. Each time an ability uses the mixed potion the player must remix a new one.(This limit increases as they gain the proper traits eventually able to stock 3 potions of one type at any time.) Incorrectly mixing ingredients will result in a comical exploding animation at the end of the casting time in which the player raises the potion up only for it to explode leaving a cloud of smoke for a few seconds followed by its dissipating leaving the player's blackened face with a shocked expression.
Example abilities and their altered effects based on potion mixed:
Small Potion:
Cooldown: 10 seconds.
MP Cost: 200
Unique effects:
Heat Blaster: Inflicts overheated status onto the foe for 30 seconds. If foe is afflicted with the "chilled" and "wet" status prior, the "wet" status is removed, the potency of this skill is increased, and inflicts "Temperature shock". Temperature shock lasts for 30 seconds and increases the amount of damage received from elemental potions by 3%.
Waterfall: Inflicts "chilled" and "wet" status onto the foe for 30 seconds. If foe is afflicted with the "overheated" status prior, the "overheated" status is removed, the potency of this skill is increased, and inflicts "Temperature shock". Temperature shock lasts for 30 seconds and increases the amount of damage received from elemental potions by 3%.
Thunderbolt: Inflicts "shocked" status onto the foe for 30 seconds. If foe is afflicted with the "wet" status prior, the "wet" status is removed and the potency of this skill is increased and instead inflicts "electrified" stunning it for 5 seconds. Enemies affected by "shocked" have their special attack channeled skills(skills that show a progress bar) slowed by 3%.
AOE versions should be assumed to do the same thing except to multiple foes with reduced potencies.
Healing Flask: Heals target party member with 250 potency.
Rejuvenating Flask: Gives target party member a regen buff with a potency of 30 for 15 seconds.
Protective Flask: Reduces all damage taken for the target party member by 5% for 15 seconds.
AOE versions should be assumed to do the same thing except to multiple party members with reduced potencies.
Medium Potion: Same effects as above except with greater potencies and effects.
Large Potion: Same effects as above except with even greater potencies and effects.
Fusion: Combine two potions for unique effects. The player would use this ability prior to mixing at which point they would be able to choose ingredients for two different potions to be combined.
Cooldown: 30 seconds
MP Cost: 2000
Example Fusion skill combinations:
Thunderbolt + Waterfall = Thundersnow: Deals damage and inflicts the target with "Shockingly Chilled" status for 30 seconds which interrupts skills that can be interrupted and slows the target's movement speed.(heavy effect)
Heat Blaster + Waterfall = Antipode: deals damage and inflicts "Temperature shock". Temperature shock lasts for 30 seconds and increases the amount of damage received from elemental potions by 3%.
Healing Flask + Healing Flask = Ultra Cure: Heals the target for 600 potency.
Rejuvenating Flask + Healing Flask: Heals the target for 300 potency and applies a 50 potency regen buff on them for 30 seconds.
Protective Flask + Healing Flask: Heals the target for 200 potency and reduces all damage taken for the target party member by 10% for 5 seconds.
Quick Refill: Instantly remake the previously created potion with no casting time.
Cooldown: 60 seconds
MP Cost: 1500
I feel as though that's enough examples to give you a pretty clear idea of what the chemist job would be like. Onto the next one!
----------------------------------------------------
The Gambler or Corsair:
Unlock City: The Golden Saucer
Role: Hybrid Support DPS
Primary stat: Dexterity
How it will play:
The roll of the dice is this job's primary playstyle combining elements from FFXI's version with X-2's it will be a ranged dps with a variety of rng based skills.( I know this makes you cringe already at the mention of rng but hear me out!) its skills are based on dice rolls and card draws, each having a different range of effects.
The Corsair's primary source of damage will be dice rolls, its default attack will be consistent but its weaponskill rotation will be rolls of the dice, each one rolling more dice than the last.
Example weapon skill names and effects:
Dice roll: Roll a dice and deal between 100 and 300 potency in damage.
Double Dice Roll: Roll two dice and deal between 200 and 400 potency in damage. Combo Action: If Dice roll was used prior, the potency is increased to between 300 and 500 potency of damage.
Triple Dice Roll: Roll 3 dice dealing between 400 and 600 potency in damage. Combo Action: If Double Dice Roll was used prior, the potency is increased to between 500 and 800 potency in damage.
Or the corsair can use an alternate dps rotation with consistent potency but at a lower strength.
Deal: Throw a card at a foe for 120 potency
Double Deal: Throw 2 cards at a foe for 200 potency. Combo Action: If Deal was used prior, potency is increased to 300.
Triple Deal: Throw 3 cards at a foe for 240 potency. Combo Action: If Double Deal was used prior, the potency is increased to 450.
Along with this default rotation, whatever card the corsair has currently drawn will augment his weaponskill rotation as long as he continues to hold it or it can be used for a slightly greater effect.
The Corsair performs an animation and draws a card at random.
Example card effects:
Jack Of Diamonds:
Held: Each weaponskill has a chance to produce an additional effect of buffing the corsair with a 3% damage boost for 10 seconds. This effect has a chance to occur each time a weaponskill is used.
Used: Grants target party member or self a 5% damage buff for 5 seconds.
Queen Of Hearts:
Held: As long as this card is held, the corsair gains a 30 potency regen buff.
Used: Heals target party member for 300 potency.
Ace Of Spades:
Held: Potency for all weaponskills is increased by 100 potency.
Used: Deals damage to one enemy with 500 potency.
Example Abilities aside from card draw:
Stacked Deck: The potency of the next card based weapon skill is increased by 100 potency. Applies "Stacked deck" effect to the player which guarantees an Ace of any given suit the next time they perform the draw ability. Fixed Dice and Stacked deck can not be both be active at the same time, when one is activated, the other will be removed.
Casting time: Instant
Cooldown: 30 seconds(shares cooldown with Fixed Dice)
MP Cost: 1000
Fixed Dice: The next dice based weapon skills will instead deal damage of 400 potency, 500 potency, and 600 potency respectively instead of their usual rng based potencies. Applies the "Fixed dice" effect to the player which greatly increases the odds of their diced based weaponskills landing on the high end of their potential potencies for the next 10 seconds. Fixed Dice and Stacked deck can not be both be active at the same time, when one is activated, the other will be removed.
Casting time: Instant
Cooldown: 30 seconds(Shares cooldown with Stacked Deck)
MP Cost: 1000
Coin Toss: The player calls a side via on screen clickable prompt and tosses a coin into the air, if they called it correctly the party gains a 10% damage buff for 30 seconds. If called incorrectly, the party suffers from a -10% damage debuff for 15 seconds.
Ul'dah Hold'em: The player draws five cards randomly and based on the hand drawn, the party gains a buff. If no hand is made the party does not gain a buff and the corsair suffers from the "Failed Hand" effect preventing them from using the ability for 3mins. If the corsair succeeds in making a hand they are given the "Good Hand" status effect which prevents them from using the ability again for 60 seconds.
Suits and their effects:
Royal Flush: Party is granted a 100 potency regen effect, a 5% damage reduction from all damage, healed for 600 potency, and healed of any current status afflicts(including unremovable via esuna). Buffs last for 30 seconds.
Four-of-a-Kind: Party is granted a 80 potency regen effect, a 4% damage reduction from all damage, and healed for 300 potency. Buffs last for 30 seconds.
Full House: Party is granted a 60 potency regen effect and a 3% damage reduction from all damage. Buffs last for 30 seconds.
Three-of-a-Kind: Party is granted a 3% damage reduction from all damage. Buffs last for 30 seconds.
Two Pair: Party is granted a 50 potency regen effect for seconds.
And that should give you a decent idea of what the Corsair playstyle is about. It's a heavily rng influenced job yes, but it's great risk for great reward playstyle I think would become fun for many players^^
---------------------------
So, what do you think?

Given how reddit works with its rep system, I doubt ANYONE will even see this post but i'm gonna make it anyways because i want to. So Yoshi has stated he wants to venture away from past jobs in previous FF titles for future jobs in FF14 but I feel as though by doing so will be shooting the franchise in the foot as the new expansion rushes out the launch gate and I think Yoshi P will realize this soon as well.
That said, while I will include jobs many of you already may want to see or have seen suggested, I will be remixing them in a way that may be fresh or new to you along with some original Job ideas. That said, here we go:
​
The Chemist:
Unlock City: Rads at han
Role: Hybrid DPS
How it will play:
The Chemist will play as a primary dps with a decent buffing and healing ability making it able to take up the healer role(temporarily) in a pinch if the healer goes down. The Chemist will have the ability to mix potions for different effects, its entire kit will be based around this idea. It's default attack will be throwing small bombs at the enemy while its main dps rotation will vary based on what potion the chemist has mixed prior.
Along with the ability to give itself a custom dps rotation of its choosing based on the potion mixed, The Chemist's abilities will be solely based on what potions it brewed.
So attempt to picture this: The Chemist has two UIs, one containing a three button loadout which determines its dps rotation and a secondary UI in the form of a small inventory menu of 10 slots that can be minimised at will which affects every other ability the chemist can use in battle.
If a potion isn't mixed prior, the chemist will use a basic version of each ability or dps weaponskill rotation. Mixing a dps rotation potion takes seconds whereas mixing an ability potion can take up to 3 seconds signalled by a casting bar labeled "Mixing".
The Chemist's primary stat in which its skills will based on will be intelligence.
Example dps potion weaponskill rotations:
Pineapple Potion: Single Target dps rotation
Cluster Bomb: AOE dps rotation
Hazardous Shell: Single Target dps rotation that inflicts a dot that increases in potency up to 3 times throughout the rotation.
Calamity Bomb: AOE dps rotation that inflicts a dot on a group of enemies that increases in potency up to 3 times throughout the rotation.
Now to go in depth with the secondary UI:
For the sake of simplicity, the mixed potions will all have "dps mix, aoe dps mix, healing mix, aoe healing mix" I will go into detail on unique effects of each potion.
The ability mixing AI will consist of 10 ingredients up to 3 ingredients can be used at once which will affect the majority of the chemist's abilities. Each time an ability uses the mixed potion the player must remix a new one.(This limit increases as they gain the proper traits eventually able to stock 3 potions of one type at any time.) Incorrectly mixing ingredients will result in a comical exploding animation at the end of the casting time in which the player raises the potion up only for it to explode leaving a cloud of smoke for a few seconds followed by its dissipating leaving the player's blackened face with a shocked expression.
Example abilities and their altered effects based on potion mixed:
Small Potion:
Cooldown: 10 seconds.
MP Cost: 200
Unique effects:
Heat Blaster: Inflicts overheated status onto the foe for 30 seconds. If foe is afflicted with the "chilled" and "wet" status prior, the "wet" status is removed, the potency of this skill is increased, and inflicts "Temperature shock". Temperature shock lasts for 30 seconds and increases the amount of damage received from elemental potions by 3%.
Waterfall: Inflicts "chilled" and "wet" status onto the foe for 30 seconds. If foe is afflicted with the "overheated" status prior, the "overheated" status is removed, the potency of this skill is increased, and inflicts "Temperature shock". Temperature shock lasts for 30 seconds and increases the amount of damage received from elemental potions by 3%.
Thunderbolt: Inflicts "shocked" status onto the foe for 30 seconds. If foe is afflicted with the "wet" status prior, the "wet" status is removed and the potency of this skill is increased and instead inflicts "electrified" stunning it for 5 seconds. Enemies affected by "shocked" have their special attack channeled skills(skills that show a progress bar) slowed by 3%.
AOE versions should be assumed to do the same thing except to multiple foes with reduced potencies.
Healing Flask: Heals target party member with 250 potency.
Rejuvenating Flask: Gives target party member a regen buff with a potency of 30 for 15 seconds.
Protective Flask: Reduces all damage taken for the target party member by 5% for 15 seconds.
AOE versions should be assumed to do the same thing except to multiple party members with reduced potencies.
Medium Potion: Same effects as above except with greater potencies and effects.
Large Potion: Same effects as above except with even greater potencies and effects.
Fusion: Combine two potions for unique effects. The player would use this ability prior to mixing at which point they would be able to choose ingredients for two different potions to be combined.
Cooldown: 30 seconds
MP Cost: 2000
Example Fusion skill combinations:
Thunderbolt + Waterfall = Thundersnow: Deals damage and inflicts the target with "Shockingly Chilled" status for 30 seconds which interrupts skills that can be interrupted and slows the target's movement speed.(heavy effect)
Heat Blaster + Waterfall = Antipode: deals damage and inflicts "Temperature shock". Temperature shock lasts for 30 seconds and increases the amount of damage received from elemental potions by 3%.
Healing Flask + Healing Flask = Ultra Cure: Heals the target for 600 potency.
Rejuvenating Flask + Healing Flask: Heals the target for 300 potency and applies a 50 potency regen buff on them for 30 seconds.
Protective Flask + Healing Flask: Heals the target for 200 potency and reduces all damage taken for the target party member by 10% for 5 seconds.
Quick Refill: Instantly remake the previously created potion with no casting time.
Cooldown: 60 seconds
MP Cost: 1500
I feel as though that's enough examples to give you a pretty clear idea of what the chemist job would be like. Onto the next one!
----------------------------------------------------
The Gambler or Corsair:
Unlock City: The Golden Saucer
Role: Hybrid Support DPS
Primary stat: Dexterity
How it will play:
The roll of the dice is this job's primary playstyle combining elements from FFXI's version with X-2's it will be a ranged dps with a variety of rng based skills.( I know this makes you cringe already at the mention of rng but hear me out!) its skills are based on dice rolls and card draws, each having a different range of effects.
The Corsair's primary source of damage will be dice rolls, its default attack will be consistent but its weaponskill rotation will be rolls of the dice, each one rolling more dice than the last.
Example weapon skill names and effects:
Dice roll: Roll a dice and deal between 100 and 300 potency in damage.
Double Dice Roll: Roll two dice and deal between 200 and 400 potency in damage. Combo Action: If Dice roll was used prior, the potency is increased to between 300 and 500 potency of damage.
Triple Dice Roll: Roll 3 dice dealing between 400 and 600 potency in damage. Combo Action: If Double Dice Roll was used prior, the potency is increased to between 500 and 800 potency in damage.
Or the corsair can use an alternate dps rotation with consistent potency but at a lower strength.
Deal: Throw a card at a foe for 120 potency
Double Deal: Throw 2 cards at a foe for 200 potency. Combo Action: If Deal was used prior, potency is increased to 300.
Triple Deal: Throw 3 cards at a foe for 240 potency. Combo Action: If Double Deal was used prior, the potency is increased to 450.
Along with this default rotation, whatever card the corsair has currently drawn will augment his weaponskill rotation as long as he continues to hold it or it can be used for a slightly greater effect.
The Corsair performs an animation and draws a card at random.
Example card effects:
Jack Of Diamonds:
Held: Each weaponskill has a chance to produce an additional effect of buffing the corsair with a 3% damage boost for 10 seconds. This effect has a chance to occur each time a weaponskill is used.
Used: Grants target party member or self a 5% damage buff for 5 seconds.
Queen Of Hearts:
Held: As long as this card is held, the corsair gains a 30 potency regen buff.
Used: Heals target party member for 300 potency.
Ace Of Spades:
Held: Potency for all weaponskills is increased by 100 potency.
Used: Deals damage to one enemy with 500 potency.
Example Abilities aside from card draw:
Stacked Deck: The potency of the next card based weapon skill is increased by 100 potency. Applies "Stacked deck" effect to the player which guarantees an Ace of any given suit the next time they perform the draw ability. Fixed Dice and Stacked deck can not be both be active at the same time, when one is activated, the other will be removed.
Casting time: Instant
Cooldown: 30 seconds(shares cooldown with Fixed Dice)
MP Cost: 1000
Fixed Dice: The next dice based weapon skills will instead deal damage of 400 potency, 500 potency, and 600 potency respectively instead of their usual rng based potencies. Applies the "Fixed dice" effect to the player which greatly increases the odds of their diced based weaponskills landing on the high end of their potential potencies for the next 10 seconds. Fixed Dice and Stacked deck can not be both be active at the same time, when one is activated, the other will be removed.
Casting time: Instant
Cooldown: 30 seconds(Shares cooldown with Stacked Deck)
MP Cost: 1000
Coin Toss: The player calls a side via on screen clickable prompt and tosses a coin into the air, if they called it correctly the party gains a 10% damage buff for 30 seconds. If called incorrectly, the party suffers from a -10% damage debuff for 15 seconds.
Ul'dah Hold'em: The player draws five cards randomly and based on the hand drawn, the party gains a buff. If no hand is made the party does not gain a buff and the corsair suffers from the "Failed Hand" effect preventing them from using the ability for 3mins. If the corsair succeeds in making a hand they are given the "Good Hand" status effect which prevents them from using the ability again for 60 seconds.
Suits and their effects:
Royal Flush: Party is granted a 100 potency regen effect, a 5% damage reduction from all damage, healed for 600 potency, and healed of any current status afflicts(including unremovable via esuna). Buffs last for 30 seconds.
Four-of-a-Kind: Party is granted a 80 potency regen effect, a 4% damage reduction from all damage, and healed for 300 potency. Buffs last for 30 seconds.
Full House: Party is granted a 60 potency regen effect and a 3% damage reduction from all damage. Buffs last for 30 seconds.
Three-of-a-Kind: Party is granted a 3% damage reduction from all damage. Buffs last for 30 seconds.
Two Pair: Party is granted a 50 potency regen effect for seconds.
And that should give you a decent idea of what the Corsair playstyle is about. It's a heavily rng influenced job yes, but it's great risk for great reward playstyle I think would become fun for many players^^
---------------------------
So, what do you think?

I bumped into a General Authority a few days ago and sought his views on the concerns I have with the Church’s handling of its finances. His responses were professional, but ultimately left me incredibly disappointed; I was hoping to feel more compassion or love for the people of the World that could be helped, but instead it was just “isn’t it wonderful that we are careful stewards of the Lord’s money”. Details below:
At the airport I saw a few obviously Mormon couples waiting for a flight to SLC. I didn’t recognise them, but got strong ‘Area Presidency’ vibes, and a quick google showed it was the Europe North Presidency of Elder & Sister Whiting and Elder & Sister Boom.
I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to say, but I approached them and introduced myself to Elder & Sister Whiting (EW & SW). They were delighted to talk, we spoke briefly about upcoming conference, mutual acquaintances etc and I left it there. I then had the strongest impulse that I had to take the opportunity and try to get answers to questions that I have and I know many active members and friends have (previously I would have described it as being led by the Spirit as I found myself compelled to go back and say more!), so I went back and said I was having some concerns and wanted their opinion:
Me: I was raised with the Book of Mormon being the keystone of the religion, and believing from Jacob that if we receive wealth we should use it to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, and heal the sick and afflicted.
Them: Of course
Me: So I worry that our Church is one of, if not the richest Church on the planet, and we don’t do enough of that. I’m embarrassed that we’re so rich. I’d expect and actually be proud if Jesus’ church was the poorest church in the world because we’d given our money away.
EW: We used to be the poorest….
Me: Yes, a hundred years ago we were in debt, but things are very different now and we have the opportunity to help so much more
EW: You need to go on the Church newsroom- they’ve just released the annual charitable report with about a billion dollars…..
Me: Yes, I’ve seen that, but that includes many other items and isn’t cash that the church actually gives to help the world
EW: Does that trouble you?
Me: I think it’s perhaps misleading as most would interpret it as cash- I know I couldn’t pay my tithing with time that I volunteer…
EW: Oh, it’s all broken out….
Me: Yes, for example, there was $60m of external financial giving, but that’s the same as you or me having $100,000 dollars in the bank and then sending out a press release saying we gave $60 to charity. That’s the equivalent. If I had $100,000, I wouldn’t brag about giving $60
SW: Well, you know, we remember when airlines and banks needed bailing out- if every organisation operated like the church then we wouldn’t need to rely on the government- the church manages its money very well, I think that’s a lot of it.
Me: I agree that the church is a massive employer so can’t spend all of its money while forgetting its obligations, so of course money is needed in reserve, but there is such…, it’s hard to comprehend what tens and hundreds of billions mean:
EW: Those numbers are a lot of conjecture
Me: The SEC financial disclosures aren’t conjecture
EW: They aren’t full disclosures
Me: The stockholdings, that is…
EW: But the stockholdings are just one piece
Me: Yes, exactly, that’s my point, that’s only a part, and already we’re up to that huge figure
EW: And that troubles you?
Me: Pardon?
EW: It troubles you that the Church is wise in the use of money?
Me: It troubles me that they don’t use it. The things that they could do with it! For example, there are literally millions of children dying every year from dirty water
EW: Do you know what the church does with dirty water in Africa?
Me: Yes, I know they’ve given money for wells, but I’d encourage you to look at how much more could be done, at a cost that would barely hit the balance sheet of the church
SW: It’s important to look at the bigger picture, when we were first assigned to Moscow….. [SW then detailed how some criticism was levied that some Russian and Ukrainian missionaries weren’t evacuated at the onset of tension prior to the Ukrainian, while Western Missionaries were, but what we didn’t know was that a lot of those local missionaries requested to remain]
Me: The missionaries do have a lot of faith in God’s protection
SW: They do, can I just say….
Me: …I’m agreeing with you on this
SW: Great
Me: I just struggle to reconcile the Church setting up and fraudulently operating 13 shell companies to hide the extent of their wealth, all things that came out in the SEC finding
EW: Did you read the Church response to that?
Me: Yes, but the SEC do not lie about these issues, with a direct quote from the First Presidency that we need to make sure that Wall street and the Media do not tie back these shell companies to the Church.
[At this point Elder Whiting turned away from the conversation- it was a little odd, but I didn’t interpret it as rude, rather just that the conversation was at risk of becoming overly negative or confrontational and he just wanted to avoid that as I admit an airport isn’t the ideal place for these discussions!]
SW: It’s important to look at all the wider Humanitarian assistance the Church provides and the need to build up reserves so we can continue to help
Me: I agree it’s good to build up a reserve, but where do you draw the line? At 20 years of reserves? So in the small role that you play within the church, as you are obviously part of a much larger organisation, I’d just encourage you to….
SW: Actually, it’s him that…. *pointing to Elder Whiting
Me: Well, you know you’re still a partnership….. I just really feel that we should be one of the poorest church’s; we always quote the scripture in James that started our religion, but just a few pages later in James we read that our stored wealth will stand as a testimony against us at the last day. I’m sorry, this wasn’t meant to be an attack, I just have very strong feelings
SW: I understand and thank you for sharing.
We then spoke about kids for a few moments then parted ways. I want to stress that they both came across as very open people who were willing to listen; they made no attempt to fob me off with “just have faith in your leaders” or turning it back to me and questioning my own spirituality- they were genuinely trying to answer the questions I put to them, it’s just that the answers they have, which mirror the Church PR answers, aren’t enough to satisfy me and I was hoping for more.
I don’t have a testimony of the Church, but I still do believe the Church could be a larger force for humanitarian relief in the world so I wanted to focus on that rather than debate doctrine. I was glad I tried as this topic has been bugging me for a long time, so an opportunity to express it directly to someone who could play a part in changing it has lifted some of the guilt I feel for all the times I stayed silent and followed Church instructions that I felt were wrong.

This is my first character sheet so go easy on me
​

• Name: Perceval Moore
• Gender: Male
• Race: Human
• Age: 23 years
• Height: 6 ft. (1.8 m)
• Weight: 190 lbs. (86 kg)
• Class: Fighter

​

• Appearance

- Perceval is disheveled and has beige, splotchy skin. His yellow, dreary eyes shine through his greasy black hair. The dandruff receptacles he calls shoulders droop below his clavicle. His gaunt frame is accented with an audacious stride, which comes from the same place his extra weight does: an occasionally dysfunctional prosthetic leg. It’s a dull brass color with cogs at the knee and springs below the false kneecap, which appear shined due to the fact that it rubs up against his flowing black cloak with each step. He carries a crudely patched burlap sack, off of which hangs a flask and a measure of rope.

• Reference images (none of these are exact but they give ya the idea)
• https://game.capcom.com/cfn/sfv/charactenash/costume?lang=en
• https://www.deviantart.com/t-rexjones/art/Frankenstein-s-Creation-286829832
• https://gorillaz.fandom.com/wiki/Murdoc
• List of reference images in order: Nash from Street Fighter V, Illustration of Frankenstein's Monster by T-Rex Jones from Deviantart and Murdoc Nichals from Gorillaz, designed by Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn.

​

• Abilities/quirks

- Skepticism: Perceval isn’t one to fall for grifts. Snake oil salesmen don’t impress him and his psyche is bound tightly. Masters of mentalism and psychics have trouble prying into his mind.
- False leg: Born without a right leg, Perceval was equipped with a prosthetic leg made of cogs, springs and whatever was lying around the shop. His movement speed and mobility are generally uninhibited but worsen when his leg isn’t properly oiled and wound. (Sometimes sprockets dislocate for seemingly no reason) This also means he is less vulnerable to tripping attempts made on his right leg, due to the heftiness of his artificial appendage.
- Bad blood: Moore’s former appendage was infected with some nasty magic. Because of a lingering curse, he has an increased vulnerability to necrotic damage. (+2) He has nerve pain that flares up whenever necromantic magic is nearby, which serves as an early warning of danger or a tool for detecting dealers in the dark arts.
- Equipment: Rusty longsword, pot-lid shield and a hand-axe. Backpack includes a crowbar, 3 torches, a tinderbox, 5 days worth of rations, a medium water-skin, a flask and a bear trap. Carries 50 feet of rope strapped to the bag.
​

• Backstory

- Hilda Moore, a servant in the court of Lord Alabaster, was infected with a wicked blight that led to her death during childbirth. Her lone offspring Perceval, (named after her last living relative, a lord in a far away land), suffered the same terrible disease that afflicted his mother. This led to the medically necessary amputation of his hands at the forearm, and right leg at the middle-thigh. Before handing the child over to a local parish, a professor in Alabaster’s court named Dr. Solomon Fabian caught wind of the sorrowful situation and whisked the child away to his observatory in Hedgeborn. Raised in a gilded tower, hidden in a lush valley, the boy grew to be curious, though he was tragically ill equipped for exploration.
Professor Fabian began conducting experimental treatments and procedures on the boy beginning at the age of 7. It wasn’t until age 10 that the boy's adopted hands stayed attached. When the boy was 13, Fabian resorted to a deal containing unfavorable terms in order to afford his greatest experiment the gift of stride. In exchange for a leg preserved with magic, Fabian agreed to construct a ward for the Criminal titan Botwell Hogspore. After the exchange was made, the professor struggled to cut ties with the greedy baron who insisted on mutual benefit via immoral means.
The new limb granted Perceval freedom of movement, but something in his spirit changed. His disposition became bitter and tyrannical. His skin withered and his eyes seared a frightful yellow. Seeing how the magic changed the boy, the professor replaced the leg with a metallic remnant of an old hobby. Dissolving the pact with Hogspore meant certain doom, but Fabian’s conscience could bear it no longer. On his 14th birthday, Perceval watched his only real family die before his eyes a second time. Hogspore spared the boy, but banished him from Hedgeborn for all of his cursed days. After drifting from odd job to odd job, Perceval finds himself itching for vengeance.
​

• Flaws and dislikes

- Perceval is a binge drinker, and on days he can’t trek very far he’s barely functional. He has a very all or nothing attitude about travel and alcohol.
- He isn’t loyal to any deity or religion, which is ironic considering he could really use some magical help and healing. He resents Paladins especially.
- He’s got no connections and the little family that he has resent him.
- He’s physically frightening. He scares children.
- He’s got a few disabilities. They wouldn’t be much of an issue but he doesn’t have access to the proper medication. This means he has chronic pain in his hands and he gets eye twitching due to the necromantic juju in his blood. Not to mention the bum leg.

• Strengths

- Perceval learned the rules of swordsmanship before he had proper hands. His adopted father was a great admirer of the art of fencing and a connoisseur of the blade. In combination with his experience as hired steel, he handles edged weapons almost as well as whisky.
- He can outdrink even the toughest of sailors.
- Mr. Moore knows what he looks like, and uses his startling appearance to his advantage whenever possible. His height, his dark second-hand hands and his piercing, weepy eyes grant him an intimidation bonus.
​

• Allies

- Jax and Ibek the leg breakers. They work for Mr. Mojo, a shell trader and Whisp-weed dealer in his close-enough-to-home town of Fishborn. Jax is a cunning dark elf who always knows a guy. He’s done favors for Perceval, and Perceval has done favors for him. They’ve worked, eaten, and fought alongside each other. Jax is the closest thing Perceval has to a best friend. He rooms with Ibek, a gentle half-giant who snaps arms for a living and crotchets in his free time.
- Fritz Gumms the marshal, one of the few staples of law enforcement in the far-west city of Jewelcrest. He gave Perceval a warm meal and a dry cell to sleep in after he caught him stealing from the mayor's office. He’s Percy’s emergency contact.
- Piper (and Marion) the witchy shop keepers. On the outskirts of Hedgborn is a little slum called Sludgeborn, where the servants who don’t reside in the houses of their masters live. Along these strips of housing are carts and booths set up selling everything you could want and plenty you don’t need. In the fabric business is the stitch-witch Piper. She has described herself at various times as both “super fucking chill” and “goth but only for the music and the fashion and the culture and the self loathing.” Her sock puppet Marion keeps her company while she sells camel skins and microfiber underpants.
​

• Acquaintances

- Llewelyn Scruffs the bounty hunter. He’s a harengon outlaw that drifted into Jewelcrest around the same time Perceval got arrested. Scruffs bailed him out, but only because there was a much bigger bounty on his head in the next town over. While traveling, they were attacked by raiders. Perceval saved the outlaw’s life, but Scruffs was badly wounded. He agreed to take the cowboy into town, but on the condition that he didn’t turn him in. Llewelyn held up his end of the bargain, but resented Perceval for making him walk the last mile on his own.
- Robin Huperts the tavern keeper. She grew up in an adopted family just like Perceval. During his early adult years, she took pity on him and let him crash in her supply closet. She kicked him out after she caught him stealing beer, but she reads the letters he occasionally sends her way.
- Precious Romwitsy the traveling actress. The Redmoon theater drifts from town to town, finding audiences in everyone from nobility to paramilitary groups to farmers who can barely afford a ticket. The crown jewel of the traveling theater is Precious Romwitsy- a true thespian at heart. She shares Perceval’s periodic problems with alcohol. They’ve swapped plenty of stories, and forgotten just as many at the bottom of a bottle. He repulses her, but her vanity is melted by his witty countenance.
- List of canonical encounters with this OC: None yet!
If you made it this far... idk that's kinda crazy. Thanks tho :)

Welcome to the second page of my table of contents. Want to read something?

Two Sentence Horror

• A concerned redditor reached out to us about you.
  
• "A functioning public press," the newly elected leader told the clamoring crowd, "is the sole means by which we can secure our democracy!"
  
• After a particularly heated, fiery argument, I finally got what I wanted from my wife.
  
• After an entire childhood of unrelenting abuse, I finally killed my father.
  
• After murdering his family near the oak where they'd tormented him as a child, the killer crammed their bodies into the trunk and drove to Mexico.
  
• After shooting the man assaulting the homeless woman, I knew I'd have to start cutting.
  
• After the final poker draw, I found myself holding four hearts and a spade.
  
• After transitioning, I duly updated my pronouns to He / Him / His.
  
• After walking the standard ten paces, both men turned and drew their guns!
  
• After years of study, as I finally began to grasp the Buddhist concept of detachment, I felt a physical... lightening—
  
• "All the lights have been hanged," the underling reported."
  
• Although born in 1981, my mom doesn't look a day past twenty-seven.
  
• And as she cried, down both her cheeks ran tears
  
• As the looming comet approached, I took your hand in mine, afraid but ready for the destruction of the earth.
  
• As we lay bloody and beaten, surrounded by naked males staring down at us, my friends and I regretted our decision to go clubbing.
  
• Black metal thundered from my headphones, assaulting my mind with noise and demonspeak.
  
• Choking back tears of despair, she gazed with terrible heartache at the beagles in the testing facility.
  
• "Cut it out!" my sister demanded, tired of the bully calling her names.
  
• Dating is one of the most exciting aspects of any new romantic undertaking.
  
• "Did you bring the stakes?" the vampire hunter whispered to his apprentice, hearing movements in the dark forest.
  
• "D-d-does your daughter want a pony?" the stable master asked, backing away from me.
  
• Fleeing testudinal foot-soldiers and mushroomian evildoers, he yearned for the sweet escape of the pipe.
  
• For my eleventh birthday I received a single jigsaw puzzle piece in a box marked "fragment of disbelief".
  
• Having lifted the massive steel beams, the crane loomed over the downtown construction site.
  
• He sat beside her on their anniversary, listening to the bird sing sweetly from her cage.
  
• He slid the needle into the blackness of the night sky, pulled back the plunger, and watched as the syringe barrel filled with the afflicted cosmos.
  
• I cried, watching the video of my father, a former striker in the Bundesliga, dribble and shoot.
  
• I hammered madly at the giant glass wall in front of me, until the pane began to crack—
  
• I held my breath as our pitbull snuck up and grabbed the handmade doll off my desk, then chomped down with his powerful jaws.
  
• "I know we'll struggle to survive the winter, but can the sick and elderly?" he asked their leader.
  
• I lay, paralysed, among the multitude of dead and dying bodies strewn across the battlefield.
  
• I learned later that my mom and dad were both proudly pro-choice.
  
• I opened the front door: to see a masked, axe-wielding psycho!
  
• I realize tanning increases one's risk of developing certain forms of cancer.
  
• I sat between the lamp and the hospital bed, holding my child's cold, limp hand, watching the agony of her slow and painful death.
  
• "I see myself in you," my mother whispered.
  
• "I wish to continue living forever!" I told the genie.
  
• It seemed a routine colonoscopy, the elderly patient's first, as the doctor worked the endoscope deeper and deeper into his colon.
  
• It was a beautiful summer day at the beach, cooled pleasantly by the breeze coming in off the ocean.
  
• It was to be his mad pointillist masterpiece, a monochrome painting on a canvas measuring one square kilometre.
  
• It wasn't a bad pitch, but from the moment I swung my bat I could feel how sweet the impact would be.
  
• Lee sold fresh vegetables on the internet.
  
• Lingering among the Maya ruins, away from my tour group, I ran my fingers gently across a glyph resembling a shell—click—
  
• My boyfriend and i are gonna get stoned this weekend.
  
• My parents cried helping pack me for my first flight to Europe.
  
• On threads of starlight, the cosmic spiders descended.
  
• Our illegal stream keeps freezing.
  
• Night fell on manhattan
  
• "Peas, lettuce, olive," Mrs Smith heard one of her disturbingly loud next-door neighbours yell, before angrily taking out her hearing aid.
  
• "Poker," the general said, taking the deck of cards from the sergeant.
  
• Standing at the top of the basement stairs, peering into the darkness below, you flick the light switch but no lights turn on.
  
• The lumberjack chopped at the tree, unaware that a nearby sapling had called the copse.
  
• The store manager sighed as he collected the scattered pieces of clothing his employees had again failed to tidy up, and put them back on the rack.
  
• The townspeople had greeted her splendidly, and invited her to dine with them at the town's quaint little Inn.
  
• They says laughter is th ebest medicine.
  
• "They stole billions," thundered the World Bank's chief economist, "and there's nothing we can do to prevent total economic collapse!"
  
• "Three ball, corner pocket," He said.
  
• Tick, tick, tick...
  
• Two men in suits hold a weeping third precipitously over an abyss, yelling repeatedly, "What are you gonna tell them, Neil?"
  
• Unable to endure any more bullying, she ran the knife across her wrists in the school bathroom stall, believing that everyone was guilty and everyone deserved to die.
  
• "Wanna see something?" the man in the trenchcoat asked, having approached us in the park.
  
• We all have that one teacher, the one who had a major impact on our lives.
  
• "We want you to keep an open mind," my father said as i unwrapped my birthday presents, which included power tools and a leatherbound book.
  
• We watched in horror as the terrorists breached security at the G20 summit and fired upon the world leaders using flamethrowers.
  
• "Well, what should I do with the bodies?" he asked, having completed his murderous task.
  
• "What state was your sister in the last time you saw her?" the cop investigating her disappearance asked.
  
• When aid mercifully reached our ancient, starving city, we opened the city gates to let the volunteers in.
  
• When the kid on thirteenth floor refused to give us money, we pushed him head-first down the garbage chute.
  
• "Why?!" I screamed as the chimpanzee tore off my mother's face and he put it on his face like a mask.
  
• "Write in this blessed book your sin, to be forgiven," the hooded monk said, passing to me a flesh-bound tome.
  
• You're having a conversation with [...] over lunch in [...], when suddenly [...] disappears, followed by [...], followed by—
  
• "You'll be spending your summer with grandma again," my mom said.
  
• "Your wife's still hot," the cartel boss said, pouring me a drink.
  

Movie Thoughts

• Before Sunrise (Linklater, 1995)
  
• Cat People (Tourneur, 1942)
  
• Death Wish (Winner, 1974)
  
• I Walked with a Zombie (Tourneur, 1943)
  
• Interrogation (Bugajski, 1989)
  
• Miracle on the Vistula (Boleslawski, 1921)
  
• Park Row (Fuller, 1951)
  
• Two-Lane Blacktop (Hellman, 1971)
  

​In the heart of the Glorious City of New London, amid the oppressive shadows of the towering Blackmill tenements, there dwelt a man by the name of Thomas Winslow. A hulking figure, with shoulders broad as an ox, Winslow had been assigned early on to shovel coal for the insatiable maw of the Generator's coal intake bins. His days were long and arduous, his body and spirit visibly reforged by his ceaseless toil, but he thanked the stars that his every day was spent in the warmth of the Central District, and his home was a short walk away.
Winslow had a daughter, a frail and delicate wisp of a girl named Lila. She was the single ray of sunlight that pierced the grime of his existence, the one thing that kept his heart from freezing over in the bitter winds that blew through the streets of New London.
It was on a particularly dark and cold evening that tragedy struck. The hands of fate would snatch away Winslow's beloved Lila, leaving him shattered and alone.
"The fever's taken 'er, Thomas," Dr. Abernathy announced gravely over the din of a crowded sick bay of Aynesworth Memorial Hospital, his breath condensing in the frigid air. "I'm afraid there's nothin' more I can do for 'er."
Winslow, his face a mask of anguish, stared down at his daughter's pale, sweat-soaked face. "There must be somethin', Doc," he pleaded, desperation thick in his voice. "There's gotta be a way."
Dr. Abernathy shook his head, a look of genuine sorrow in his eyes. "I wish there were, Thomas. But we've done all we can. It's only a matter of time now."
Lila stirred, her weak voice barely audible above the moans and pleas of the afflicted souls that surrounded them. "Father... don't be sad."
Winslow dropped to his knees beside her, ignoring the blue-lipped patient on the floor beside him that seemed already a corpse. He clutched Lila's hand tightly in his own massive, calloused, coal-stained paws. Tears coursed down his cheeks, mingling with the coal dust that perpetually clung to his beard. "Oh, Lila... me darlin' girl... I can't bear to lose you."
"I know, Father," Lila whispered, her eyes shining with the love and affection. "But remember what you always told me... 'bout the stars?"
Winslow nodded, his throat tight with emotion. "Aye, I remember."
"We're all made of stardust, Father," Lila murmured, her voice growing weaker with each word. "And when I'm gone, I'll be up there with the stars, watchin' over you."
Winslow choked back a sob, pressing his forehead to hers. "I love you, Lila. Always remember that."
"I love you too, Father," she whispered, her eyes closing for the last time.
And as the wind screamed and tore at the fragile walls of infirmary, Thomas Winslow held his daughter close for the last time, his heart shattering into a thousand frozen shards.
In the days that followed, Winslow began to wander the desolate streets of New London, a hollow shell of a man. He would walk up Coal Street after his shift, climb up the snow banks, and trudge out into the frost in order to catch a glimpse of the stars away from the smoke of the settlement. His co-workers at the Generator spoke of him in hushed tones, their voices heavy with pity and dread.
"Did you hear about poor Winslow?" one muttered, his breath fogging the frigid air. "Lost his girl, he did."
"Aye, it's a cruel world we live in," another agreed solemnly. "And it seems New London's no place for God's mercy."
As the days turned into weeks, Winslow's despair grew deeper and more profound. The light of the stars, once a source of solace, had become a bitter reminder of all that he had lost. Each night, as he lay in his bed and the other residents milled around him, he would stare out a frosted window, curses on his breath for the cruel fate that had stolen his beloved Lila from him.
One evening, as Winslow made his way home from another grueling day at the Generator, he happened upon a group of men huddled together in a darkened alley. Their voices were low and urgent, their words punctuated by angry gestures.
"What's all this then?" Winslow growled, his voice roughened by grief and exhaustion.
The men turned, and one of them, a wiry fellow by the name of Casper Marsh, with a crooked nose and a patch over one eye, stepped forward. "We're plannin' a little... demonstration, you might say," he explained, a wicked grin spreading across his face. "Seems our beloved Major Wilkins ain't doin' enough to protect the likes of us from the cold and the sickness. We're gonna make sure he gets the message, loud and clear."
Winslow stared at Casper and the others for a long moment, then nodded slowly. "Count me in."
In the days that followed, the ragtag group of men and women, fueled by anger and despair, began to plot their insurrection. As they huddled together in secret, crafting makeshift weapons and sharing whispered plans, a sense of purpose began to take root in Winslow's heart. Perhaps, in fighting for the lives of others, he could find some small measure of solace for the loss of his own dear Lila.
The night of the uprising was dark and bitterly cold, but the sky was clear and in the gaps between the smoke plumes, a tapestry of stars shone overhead that seemed to mock the suffering of those below. As the clock struck midnight, the rebels gathered in the shadows, their hearts pounding with a mixture of fear and determination.
"Remember," one-eyed Casper hissed, his voice barely audible above the howling wind. "We strike hard and fast, then disappear back into the night. If we're caught... well, I don't need to tell you what'll happen."
Winslow nodded grimly, his thoughts turning to Lila, to the promise she had made before her death. He felt a surge of resolve, a fierce and burning determination to make her proud, to honor her memory in the only way that seemed possible.
As the rebels crept through the darkened streets, their footsteps muffled by the snow, Winslow felt a strange sense of clarity, as if the path before him had been laid out by some unseen hand. And as they neared their target, the heart of the city where Major Wilkins and his cronies slept soundly in their warm and comfortable beds, he knew that he would stop at nothing to see their mission through.
The attack on the homes of the administration was swift and brutal, the air filled with the sounds of shattering glass and screams of terror. As the city's elite scrambled to defend themselves, the rebels moved like shadows, striking down their enemies with a cold and ruthless efficiency. Still, they could not find the Mad Captain until the guards had pushed them back into the streets. Casper Marsh had fallen early to a crossbow bolt, leaving Thomas Winslow to take the mantle of leadership and bring the rebels around the Generator to regroup.
In the chaos, however, they had been outmaneuvered. Winslow found himself face to face with Major Wilkins in the bedlam, the man he held responsible for Lila's death. As their eyes met, the hatred and fury that had been building inside him for weeks erupted in a savage roar.
"You took her from me!" he bellowed, his deep voice echoing through the night. "You let her die! You're letting us all die!"
As he lunged forward, a makeshift spiked club raised high, he saw a flicker of fear in the Major's eyes. But it was too late. The die had been cast, the final act set in motion. The Mad Captain raised his pistol and fired, once in Winslow’s chest, then as the bear of a man stumbled, he shot off one more of his priceless bullets into his contorting face.
Thomas Winslow met his end, his blood staining the snow of the Central District a crimson hue. Major Wilkins, his face pale and haunted, staggered away from the scene, his overcoat slick with the blood of the man who had sought vengeance upon him, yet even that began to freeze.
The uprising, though fierce and full of fury, was ultimately quelled, its flames snuffed by the iron fist of the New Order. The rebels, hunted down and captured one by one, were made to pay dearly for their defiance, for after their execution at the dreaded steam platform, their corpses were strung up on the scaffolds of the Generator as a grisly reminder of the cost of insurrection.
The people of New London, their spirits broken by the brutality of that night, returned to their lives of misery and toil. The loss of Thomas Winslow, a man who had always seemed ready to shoulder the heaviest load, weighed upon their hearts. Yet in the darkened corners of the city, where the cold and the hunger gnawed at their very souls, they continued to speak his name, to whisper of yet another who could not withstand the perils of the New Ice Age.
And as the icy winds of New London howled and moaned, Winslow's spirit seemed to return, a ghostly presence that haunted the streets of the Blackmills, seeking solace for the love he had lost and the life he had been denied.
In the vast and indifferent cosmos above, the stars continued to shine, their cold and distant light a stark reminder of the frailty and futility of human existence. And though Thomas Winslow had fought and died for a cause he believed in, the heavens above looked down upon the Glorious City of New London with an unfeeling gaze, the countless lives snuffed out beneath their eternal watch a mere footnote in the endless march of time.

God looked down from heaven and gazes from the eyes of man as they are beholden to his creation. No face turned upwards to the sky he created for them in joyful reverence of the beauty of their home, and their heads turned in shame and fear when they pray to him. Again, the Lord is, and is all, and all comes from him, and he knows all, but there is something. It is The Question. The only Question he has ever known. "Why?" The Lord made an answer long ago, he has always known the answer and was the answer, to all questions. But what was the question? Who asked the question? Was it him? Who else could it be? Why did he know the answer? To whom did he compare? None, as the book surely tells us. None, as the great prophets and clerics and even most faithless of dogs will admit. When the angels rebelled, he cast them into the pit of shell, that they might know their betrayal of him as a betrayal of themselves, but he loves them still. Why could he not forgive them? No, why could they not repent? The loving God is not afraid, who could stand against him? They do not repent or regret. The fallen angels are loyal to the bringer of light Lucifer, more steadfastly than unto him! He who created them, he who fashioned them adornment from the stars and bathed them in the lights of nebulae, he who loved them! :What wicked falsehoods does the light bringer whisper into their ears?" The good Lord wonders, but across the chasm between the kingdom of God and the pit he hears nothing. An occasional silent stutter, as if someone was about to say something, but held back. Into the fire and brimstone he cast his resolve, for the first time in a long time he placed his sight upon every rock and stone and river of flaming ice, yea he beheld a spectacle: the damned, unrepentant renegade angels held themselves not in pain nor in hedon and Sodom, but in silence. Cold silence. The flames licked around their feet, but they cried out not, and grimaced none. The Lord saw fit to let the light of the holy spirit illuminate the depths of sheol for the first time, and for the first time since creation, and for the first time since creation, the Lord uttered his Voice. "O ye wretched demons," said He, "the Time has come to be gone, all Time shall come to be gone, and you who have repented shall be taken into my kingdom, and sat upon my right hand side, decorated with perfumes and jewels befitting my loved creations." The Lord welcomes the wayward son back into his embrace! What joy, what relief the sinners and wretches and witches of that blackened realm must have felt! The Lord's voice echoes across creation, rippling, morphing shaking the foundation of all that is. God on high, himself was shaken. The beasts and abominations said nothing. Did nothing. Simply stared upon the Lord, and viewed the Icon of YHWH. They did not burn nor cower, nor did the squint or rub their eyes, no they simply looked and saw God And they saw that God was good, and his creation was good. God knew then, what they saw, as he is every thought and emotion, and knew that they were good. How could God create something bad? He never did. He looked in the tortured hearts of the citizens of this necropolis of his own device and saw no anger, no hate and no fear, in mortal soul and eternal alike. Yea, he looked upon his children and saw that they were good, and he uttered his Voice again unto the universe, words beyond the comprehension of any other than he, and all that was, is, and ever would be shook and trembled. "Lo, and behold," the mountains and trees began to sing, "the Master is coming." Wicked Satan, the riddle master, in his dungeon of ice and flaming spears arose and spoke unto the lord, in vile imperative, "O Lord, King of kings, what makes life more abundant, and what makes life worth living?" Ignored went the beast, but like a babe who has said unkind words to their mother in order to get their way, he smirked and slicked about waiting for a response. The Lord reeled and creation gasped, as the heart of all nearly seized in the Lord's mighty breast; he did not know the answer. Jesus had, but he entered the heart of man long ago, in order to save them, and how did the ungrateful sluggards use his Son's gift? The children of God walked the earth, pillaging and destroying like they always had, defiling his Son's sacrifice. Go realized how lonely he had been without his only begotten son, and how long it had been since he had been able to accept counsel from the only being in creation who ever came close t knowing the heart of God. Wrath came over the lord, like he had not felt ever before, not when he destroyed the world with flood, nor plagued Egypt, nor even when he swallowed straight to sheol the Israelite's camp in the desert of Egypt when the revolted against his word. No, his wrath was beyond comprehension, even his own comprehension. Fly he did, upon his Son's white mare, with the Word of God ablaze in his mouth, yea, he returned, God, the Father. Into the eyes of man he cast himself, to see all the wicked suffering and sinners commit their blasphemy. Grim was his gaze. All that he saw, he watched be returned unto dust, and the lamentations of those who witnessed filled the sky's of Midgaard. Into the eyes of man he cast himself once more, to view his handiwork. The Lord's heart was hardened by what he saw, like the Pharoah looking upon the miserable Israelites, he hardened his own heart. But his heart became still as morning fell way into the beginning of dusk, and mankind crawled into their holes and retreated to the dark spaces where they thought the Lord could not see them. As foretold, the world knew he had returned. They knew not why, and they knew not God, for he did not reveal himself. God was. Creation was. God looked upon the earth and the hearts of man and frowned, like a carpenter upon realizing a piece of wood he has been turning for hours has a sap knot in it. The Lord gazed upon creation through the eyes of man, and saw all. All was wrong. He saw a mother, crying for her son, and saw all. The son was killed by his fellow man, yea, God looked into all that was and is and will ever will be, and God saw. Through the mother's eyes he saw his kingdom, how bleak it looked in her thoughts, but how majestic was it to behold on her thoughts. Up she looked, to him, as if from the foot of his throne, and she plead with him to accept her baby into his kingdom. God was silent as she wept and prayed. Through the eyes of the son, before his soul had even reached the heavenly court, God saw his dying sight: the sun, setting in the west. God felt what the boy felt, fear, Hate, and anger all tempered into love. Love? Yea truly brothers and sisters, love, for life, the world, and all that was. God saw through the sons eyes, and felt though his heart, and the son of man looked upon creation a final time and said "It is good." Thrice he gazes upon life through mortal eyes, a final time, and he sees nothing bit pain and suffering, he hears not the holy ghost nor the Liar's voice! But, God sees something else, mankind in pain and suffering, madness and vitriol, in all manner of ailments and affliction fall onto their knees and cry out to the Lord, and revel in the beauty of their gilded cage, and take comfort in the uncaring magnitude of creation. God looked upon the earth and saw that it was good. He understood now. He had an answer for the question, and he now knew the question. Across the sands of time, the mighty Ram stirred in his cage. In the pits of sheol, none feared god, and all had forgiven him, for he had not known what he had done. In the hearts of man there was fear, pain and malintent. In the hearts of man there was lust for life, and reckless abandonment of gods love, for all they had known was the love they shared with their own kind. True Love. Lobe conditional, yes, but also true, unconditional Love. Love, even when it destroyed all they knew, and left them broken, yea, even then. God closed his eyes, and for the first and last time, felt a true emotion and not just a reaction. Aye, he felt Love. Love for his children though he understood them not. Truly I say unto you, God opened his eyes and saw that creation was good. He saw all creation, and was all, armed with the sword of truth as his answer and the whirlwinds of chaos as his question he saw himself, and he saw that he was. Yea pharisee, in your white suit and cocktail dress, yea pretenders, yea, you wolves in sheep's clothing who prey upon the defenseless young while masking your intentions in mentordom, yea hear my words and burn over like stew without meat, seethe like a struck babe, writhe at my truth, and may your blasphemous hypocrisy boil you till you become still. God saw himself, and all he saw was that he was.

In Fortnite STW, Affliction is a conditional effect that applies damage over time to a target. In general gaming terms, a conditional effect is when something causes an effect to a target - ie you use a ray which freezes a critter. Other examples of conditional effects in STW include dancing, slowed, snared, stunned, staggered, frozen, or knocked down targets. While there are different things that can apply Affliction in STW, the focus of this write up will be the Causes Afflction 6th Perk on Weapon schematics.
What does the 6th Perk Causes Afflction do? A husk or animal hit by a weapon with the Causes Afflction perk suffers a calculated amount of damage over a duration of 6 seconds. This is often referred to as damage over time (aka DOT), and the individal increments called "ticks" (also spelled "tics") damage.
How is the amount of Affliction damage per tick calculated? It's a mathematical formula based on a base damage value, Hero Ability Damage, Offense and Tech, Weapon Perks and Hero Perks that buff weapon damage.
Math Formula:
Affliction Damage Per Tick = Base (6 for ranged; 12 for melee) * Hero Ability Damage percentage / 100 * 1 + [(Offense + Tech)/100] + Survivor set bonuses * 1 + (Sum of Weapon and Hero Perk Bonuses)
The affliction damage ticks can crit, the amount of damage varies with the amount of Weapon and Hero Crit Damage perks. To calculate it, use this formula
Crit Affliction Damage Per Tick = Affliction Damage per tick * [1 + (Sum of Weapon and Hero Crit Damage perks expressed as a decimal)
If you have 135% CD perk it is 1 + 1.35 so 2.35, or let's say just Assault Crit Damage in support 1 +.75 so 1.75, both it would be 1 + (1.35 + .75) = 3.10
Long mathematical equations can be confusing and intimidating, so let's break this down into a more basic formula with four parts.
Basic Formula (to calculate Affliction Damage per Tick):
Base * HAD stuff * OT Stuff * Weapon and Hero Perks
Components of the Basic Formula
A. Base = 12 (melee) ; 6 (ranged)
B. HAD Stuff = Hero Ability Damage percentage / 100
C. OT Stuff = 1 + [(Offense + Tech)/100] ; add any melee, ranged, or ability survivor set bonuses here expressed as a decimal. So if you have the 4 sets of melee ranged survivor sets that's 4 * .05 = .20
D. Perk Bonuses = 1 + (Sum of Weapon Perks + Hero Perks)
Weapon Perks
These would include the elemental damage perk, damage perk and conditional damage perk expressed as a decimal.
If you have upgraded the elemental damage perk, damage perk and damage to afflicted that would be (.20 + .30 + .45) = .95
Hero Perks
These would include any hero perks that would buff weapon damage, expressed as a decimal.
If you have a loadout with six shooter and quickshot in support then you'd add .20 + .17 = .37
See the hero perks section for additional information.
I'm going to use use a table to show some example calculations
A * B * C * D

	A	B	C	D
	Base	HAD Stuff	OT Stuff	Perk Bonus	Math	Actual	Math Critical	Actual Crtical
Melee	12	27.13	66.02	1.95	41912.26	41916	98493.67	98503
Shadowstance Active	12	27.13	66.02	2.2	47285.63664	47290	111121.16	111132
Ranged	6	27.13	66.02	1.65	17732.11	17733	41670.4585	41674
Melee Full Party	12	27.13	99.2	1.95	62976.3264 (47232 vs Elemental Husk)	47237
Melee	12
Ranged	6

Clicking any of the links will take you to video footage
Melee example 1
Ranged example
Melee example (full party)
I reviewed some of the previous affliction posts (see History section) in which the formula was provided, however when the math was not calculating correctly, I decided to do some testing. I followed the same type of testing format as I had previously used in testing other 6th perks. Once I had reviewed test data results, I was able to the calculate base damage. With knowledge of the base damage values, I just had to validate what other factors can contribute to the affliction damage ticks.
Validation Tests (test footage)
Are the Afflction damage ticks the same for melee/ranged ? No
Are the Afflction damage ticks affected by Hero Ability Damage Score? Yes
Are the Afflction damage ticks affected by Offense and Tech scores? Yes
Are the Afflction damage ticks affected by Survivor Squad bonuses? Yes, melee, ranged (untested but logically should be added), and ability.
Are the Afflction damage ticks the same regardless of weapon type? Yes, when perked similarly (same upgrade rarity for elemental perk, damage perk, conditional damage perk)
Are the Afflction damage ticks the same regardless of material (ore or crystal)? Yes, when perked similarly (same upgrade rarity for elemental perk, damage perk, conditional damage perk)
Are the Afflction damage ticks affected by Weapon PL in the same zone? No (tested in Twine)
Are the Afflction damage ticks affected by Element Damage Perk Upgrades? Yes
Are the Afflction damage ticks affected by Weapon Damage Perk Upgrades? Yes
Are the Affliction damage ticks affected by Conditional Damage Perk Upgrades? Yes
If any Critical Damage Perks are applied on the weapon, does that affect the affliction damage tick value? Yes
Are the Afflction damage ticks affected by Hero Perks that buff weapon damage? Yes
Can a player stack Affliction damage ticks stack from different weapons? Yes
Are the Afflction damage ticks affected by the Zone a mission is in? Yes.

• Twine PL140 O/T 3251, 3251 HAD 2713
• Twine PL76 O/T 3251, 3251 HAD 2713
• Canny PL70 O/T 3200, 3200 HAD 1901
• Canny PL46 O/T 2105, 2105 HAD 1901

Hero Perks (Additional Info)
These should be easy to add into the formula: Six Shooter (20/60 first six shots) , Quick Scope (17) , Assault Damage (17 /50) , Shell Shock (17 / 50) , Faster Explosions (17/50), Swab The Deck (17/50), Actuated Attacks (17/50) , Legendary Blade (25/75 in shadow stance), Hipshot (17/50)
Not Tested: Buckle, Swash, Blaze of Glory, Locked or Reloaded, From the Depths, Ow my eye, Scythe to Meet you (25/62 vs slowed or snared), Poking Holes (25/50 vs Afflicted Targets)
Fire of the Dragon (Hybrid) should extends the affliction duration from the weapon to 10 seconds (when used as Commander) or 8 seconds (when used in support). Although unrecorded I did observe an additional tick of damage when Corrosive Strikes was active so I'm assuming his perk would work with other hero perks that deal affliction
Assassination is tricky to calculate as the Affliction DOT amount can vary with how many stacks of Assassination are applied.
Corrosive Strikes is tricky to calculate as Fortnite's in game calculator would sometimes display the sum of the affiction damage ticks from the weapon and hero.
Command Presence and War Cry test
Saurian Claws (Paleo Luna) testing can be found here: https://youtu.be/4fSHS7-fSb8. Thank you for the reminder u/RIP_STW. Like Corrosive Strikes, FN's in game calculator will sometimes sum the amounts of affliction damage ticks and damage amounts from Saurian Claws health bonus together.
Hero Perks that buff a weapon's Critical Damage add their respective perk value to the Affliction's Crit Damage potential. These include: Critical Blast, Sure Shot, Assault Crit Damage, Make it Count
Loadouts Used - I wanted to keep the HAD value consistent during testing so a very odd loadout was used.
HAD 1938 Commander: Anatomy Lessons (Whiteout Fiona)
HAD 2713 Test loadout A: Commander: Anatomy Lessons (Whiteout Fiona), Team Perk: Endless Shadow; Fleet, Medicinal Fumes, Sea Fog, Gadgeteer, Survivalist
Test loadout B: Commander: Anatomy Lessons (Whiteout Fiona), Team Perk: Endless Shadow; Fleet, Medicinal Fumes, Swordmaster Ken, Gadgeteer, Survivalist
Test loadout C: Commander: Anatomy Lessons (Whiteout Fiona), Team Perk: Endless Shadow; Fleet, Medicinal Fumes, Sea Fog , Assassination, Survivalist
Test loadout D: Commander: Anatomy Lessons (Whiteout Fiona), Team Perk: Endless Shadow; Fleet, Medicinal Fumes,Corrosive Strikes , Gadgeteer, Survivalist
History Old formulas published by Whitesushi and Details-Examples ; DannySpring's formula found in this post.
Kudos to u/A1Getdismoney , u/NuttsnBolts and u/RIP_STW

CW: Discussion of right to end of life medical care/Death
​
For me it is Terry Pratchett ( I know, totally out of left field on this subreddit), but likely not just for the reasons that most people have. Of course I am in love with his wit, humour, and ability to frame real life issues in his books. It goes without saying that Terry Pratchett was a writer that knew how to reach into the collective consciousness and frame things that we all deal with in such clever and relatable ways that we will likely be talking about his works for many years to come. These are all good reasons to enjoy his work, but the biggest reason for me as I get older is that it makes me think of my dad. My dad passed away 5 years ago, and it was only after this when I was re-reading some of my favourite Pratchett novels (the Watch series) that I made some connections I hadn't previously.
My Dad was an angry man. Not angry in the sense of yelling at or hitting his kids (I was never abused in any way - quite the opposite), but in the sense of an almost boundless rage at the inequities of an uncaring world. He, much like Terry, raged against stupidity, ignorance, bigotry and selfishness. I can't read any of the Watch series without likening Sam Vimes to my dad. The rage at injustice, the hardened outer shell and grumpy cynical persona covering for the personality of someone who ultimately believes that people CAN be better if they are allowed to. Like Sam Vimes, my father was an alcoholic. Also like Sam Vimes, he was a doting and exceptional father who struggled with his own inner demons. I think Vimes was always meant to be a bit of a stand in for Pratchett himself. Reading through interviews with those who were close to Terry, like Neil Gaiman, paints the picture of a man filled with righteous fury, and a curmudgeonly disposition. Terry, and my father were both men that did not suffer fools lightly.
The last major connection that my mind makes between these 2 pillars of my life may be both the most and least important: both men were afflicted with life changing diseases. Terry Pratchett was known as a major advocate for right to end of life medical care. His disease progressed over time to where he felt that a tipping point was reached (or being reached). My dad also had a life changing disease, and we had spoken about his struggles with depression, and his fear that he would ultimately be left helpless in his failing body. We always danced around the subject, but he and I had an understanding. My father died in a fall while drunk, and a part of me will always wonder if he was trying to spare me.
All this is to say, Terry Pratchett is one of my all time favourite writers, and true student of the human condition. I love reading and re-reading all of his books (I'm even working on getting them all in hardcover - the artwork is so beautiful!), but since the passing of my father his writing has taken on an even more important place in my heart. His writing allows me to connect viscerally with memories of one of the most important people in my life. The bittersweet pit in my stomach when I read scenes of Sam Vimes trying to be the best father he can be, and the occasional tear when remembering poignant moments in my life are truly special. For all of these reasons, Terry Pratchett was and remains my favourite Fantasy author.

My dad passed away this morning. He was 62 and I am 28. I am wracked with grief.
If you’ll indulge me, I can give some backstory on his last couple years: My dad battled depression throughout his life, alongside his identical twin, with whom he was very close, as my uncle never had kids or got married. My parents divorced 10 years ago and my dad moved in with his parents and lived in the efficiency of their house. At the beginning of 2020 my dad had already fallen into a massive depression; he stopped going to work months prior, never left the house, didn’t sleep much (he had severe sleep apnea that he didn’t treat), smoked packs a day, and stopped taking his cholesterol and blood pressure meds. (His twin brother fell into a depression alongside him: he also stopped going to work, and essentially moved into their parents’ house as well, sleeping on their couch.) Needless to say, these poor life habits were a perfect storm for my father to have a stroke in May of 2020. I had gotten to town from California (where I live) to Miami (where he lived) and was the one to take him to the hospital. (I could write a whole other, even longer post describing the guilt I feel over having found him a couple days after his stroke, as I chose not to check on him earlier, even though there were concerning signs…) The strokes (plural) were severe. He spent 6 weeks in the hospital and took some improvement to just be functional from a wheel chair and speak with a slur. I stayed in Miami for 6 months, taking him to PT and other therapies and appointments every day, as his full-time caretaker, alongside my older sister. All the while, my uncle was in a massive depression, and my grandparents were getting older and deteriorating. My sister and I were basically managing a sort of assisted living facility in this house, caring for the lives of four people.
Back to my dad: he had extreme apathy and refused help all along the way. After about 6 months, in October 2020, he stopped letting me take him to PT. Exasperated, i moved back to LA. Since then he deteriorated a lot. I came home for holidays and intermittently through the years as needed, but my sister bore the brunt of real responsibility by actually physically being here (did I mention that she also has a small child? She also is currently pregnant with her second…).
These were and have been the worst three years of my life. I do not know anyone who has gone through something even remotely similar. It has taken this novel of a post and I feel like I’ve barely even scratched the surface in describing all the intricacies of the situation.
But, a guilt I’m dealing with now has to do with the fact that I’ve made this more about myself, when my dad was the one in trouble. He was once a happy, hilarious, fun-loving guy who everybody liked. He and his twin brother were the most popular guys in town and well-loved. After my dad’s stroke, he was a shell of that person. He lived solely in his room, retreated from his friends and loved ones, and sat in an emotional prison where he felt so alone and miserable. Afflicted with a deep depression, he thought of himself as a failure and a disappointment to his family. He also lamented the beautiful life he once had (especially that of when he was younger, and still with my mom, and before I moved away to California.)
Since his difficult passing this morning—which I was able to be in town for, and was with him for his final moments—I have received an outpouring of love from a lot of people. They all thought him to be such a special person. But what absolutely kills me is that in these last 3 years, he did not feel that love. He was just miserable. And I, someone who was not built to be a caretaker, was quite rough with him throughout. He had no urge to get better and it felt simply soul-sucking for me to take care of him; as a result I would get so fed up with him and would yell at him etc., which only made him feel worse. My last conversation with him was the last of many phone calls during which I spent the time yelling at him for not working hard to get better, and for being a burden on me. I will have a very very hard time forgiving myself for all that.
I love him so much and I just hope that he knew and knows how much everyone loved him. I’m so sad that he didn’t feel that in his final couple years. I’m going to miss him so damn much.
This is another story, but I now need to be a major support for his grieving twin brother and father (his mother has dementia and we think it’s best to not even tell her). This grieving process could be a serious threat to all of their health and I’m terrified. And how do I comfort my pregnant sister?

I am curios to know others thoughts on the game so far, from what you've seen on the beta.
Overall, it feels really scuffed, like a diablo immortal clone built for PC. I am glad I only spent 3 dollars for a KFC sandwich to get this play experience, as I can 100% without a doubt vehemently say this game is not worth 70 dollars.
Diablo 4 is an aggressive expression of mediocrity and soulless game design. It does nothing well, and the things it does best it steals from other games. It takes the worst parts of Diablo 3 and copy/pastes them right back into the game as if it's something new we'd never seen before, or as if it's something fresh and interesting, when in fact it's old and stale. What could have been a great game has been whittled down to the bare nub of pathetic gimmicky tripe. It does not feel like Diablo, it feels more like an arcade game. I was hoping so much that this game would be at least "good" - but it cannot even meet those low expecations. There is not a single redeeming aspect of this game that I can recommened someone to experience. Unless you're getting the game for free, do not even bother with it. Blizzard is dead, and we will never get another good game from them again. Diablo 3 was an utter travesty and complete joke. Diablo 4 looks to be following in kind.

General - 

Minimap [Tab] is super annoying, just show the normal overlay. Have [M] be a larger more detailed map. It's 2023, there is no reason not to have a simple minimap overlay like every game has had prior, it's a massive quality of life change that is massively needed.
Not being able to use Left Click for "Move, pickup, interact" is turbo suck giga bad. How is this not something that was fixed in early alpha?
Why does the Ultimate Skill not have a dedicated keybind and hotbar slot? Doesn't make sense. We already only have 4 real slots to use, and this takes up one of them. Feels so bad.
There is zero feeling of an "open world" with other players. Not really a "bad" thing imo, it's just not what I had thought it would be. I think I've seen 2 other people the entire time in the actual game (not in town). I was expecting a lot more. Open world feels like a dead game. There is no one ever anywhere. The only time I see people is in town, or directly outside of town and then they phase into a different shard or something.
Not being able to mouseover an item that drops and see it stats is kind of ridiculous. Why does the item information not show when you hover over it? It doesn't even show the basic item information other than "Helm" or "Boot."
User Interface is kind of odd so far, not a fan of the characteinventory screens. Why are Materials shown in the Stats menu, and not in their own inventory tab down at the bottom like Quest Items/Equipement/Etc?
No global/all chat? Isn't this supposed to be an online arpg pseudo-mmo? How is there no way to chat? There is "Trade" and "Local" chat, but I've never seen anyone say anything in game yet, it's just NPC's filling up the chat box. No one ever talks in the chat, very strange.
Can't show health/mana/energy numbers. Why not? I want to know these parameters at all times please! Very important to me.
The UI is so bad. Why do things pop up in the middle of the screen? There is so much wasted screen real estate, use it. Why can we not at least customize the ui a bit? Why is the health/mana globe centered around the middle, and not made to be on either side of the screen? Feels like a mobile game. Thankfully there is "use side mode" where you can affix your hud to the bottom left, but it's not as good as it could be. Feels super scuffed and something out of a 2014 mobile game.
Chat location on the bottom right? Why? Why can't we move chat and change chat settings? I don't want to hear the villagers talk, well I do want to HEAR them, but I don't want this in the chat window.
When Shift Clicking items to/from stash, if it is a stack of items it instead tries to split the stack. How has this not been fixed? Seems like a pretty huge and obvious thing for anyone who has played the game to immediately notice and bring up.
Dungeons are super repetitve and annoying. There are no mobs in them, and it takes forever. It's mostly just walking around clicking [PROGRESSION OBJECT] and carrying the object to the [KEYHOLE]. This is a really massive issue since a large portion of end game will (from what I've heard) be running dungeons, it's beyong annoying. I've only done the ones in availabel in the beta and already it's just a chore.
"World Tiers" is the biggest cop out joke of "difficulty" I have ever seen. There should be one difficulty - the game. That's it. If you can't balance the game around that and make the experience enjoyable, challening, and fulfilling, you're a failure at development. Lost Ark, Path of Exile, Last Epoch, etc - just one difficulty. The game. You play the game, there are no arbitrary sliders for "easy" "Hard" "Harder" "Harderer" - it's time to get real and adapt to the times. This is not 2004 anymore, this is not an acceptable design philosophy. The fact that there are multiple difficulties like we're playing diablo 2 from 2002 is a resounding announcement of failure in game design, where they have failed to create a compelling, challenging, and interesting game where the 1-50 (level cap?) experience works.
Level Scaling zones is awful. It feels like I'm progressively getting weaker while enemies get stronger, rather than my character actually getting stroner. Sure, my NUMBER GO UP, but it takes about the same time to kill things at level 25 with fully decked out character as it did at level 4 with white items half naked. It's terrible. My level 7 barbarian kills stuff faster than my geared out level 25 rogue.
Leveling feels really bad. You get a single skill point and that's it. Extremely shallow and boring. Why are there no other things in which we can invest in to empower our characters when leveling up? This entire game feels like a hollow shell of what could have been a great experience, but it only leaves me with a bitter resentment for the franchise downfall starting with Diablo 3.
What even is the point of the alchemist and potions? It's not crafting at all. It's just a checkbox that is level gated that you unlock pretty mcuh regardless of what you do. There are no options, nothing interesting, there isn't any cool effects or different types of potions. It's just the same thing but higher number. Complete joke of a system.
The same can be said for the blacksmith, where it costs an unholy amount of gold to upgrade an item by a small margin, or to add a socket with the Jeweler... it's all so bad. It's unbelivable to me that a multi billion dollar company can continue to produce such immense mediocrity. It insults me as a consumer when these products are put before me and you say "Better pny up 70 bucks you dirty little pay piggy!"

Gear - 

So far items have been just "Green number good." It's terrible. Worst gearing system in an ARPG since Diablo 3. It's... it's just Diablo 3 all over again... Where is the cool stuff, where are the fun mods, where are the things which make me think "Hmm, should I use Item A over Item B?" it's just GREEN NUMBER GO UP -> Equip. Disgusting.
Item Power - no. Just, no. This is not the way geaitemization should work. Remove this number.
Stats are weird. Lucky Strike is awfully weird and seems completely pointless/arbitrary.
"Reduced Damage Taken from far away mobs" - stupid. Why? Just give it increased armor or dodge and call it good. Why are these stats in the game, they are so pointless. "Increased damage with Core/Basic skills" another stupid stat. These should just be removed completely and better, more meaningful stats put into the game.
Why do Int/Dex/Str scale so bad? 0.1% increase per strength? Jesus christ man it's like Diablo 3 all over again. D3 is terrible, please stop trying to replicate that horrible game.
Item stats are stupid and unfun so far. Sure, I'm, only level 25, but they're very bland and boring. +1.2% Damage, +20 Willpower, wow... so interesting and fun. I cannot express the importance of good and interesting itemization.
Why is every item just "Bow" or "Shield" or "boots"?? There is no differentiating from one item to another. The only difference is NUMBER GO UP power. It's god awful.
Gems and Sockets. Same old crap. Ruby in armor -> Crit Damage/Skill Damage in Weapon. Zero thought, zero fun, zero interest. Complete dead system. Why does this even exist? It is so unreal to me how bland and soulless almost evertyhing in the entire game is.

Skills - 

Skill tree sucks. Pick ability, pick simple passive. Nothing really interesting or fun about them at all. Maybe at later levels it gets more interesting, but currently it's just lame boring stuff.
Not nearly enough options for skills. You get to pick 1 of two, often times extremely lame, modifiers. This is not a skill tree, it's a joke.
Pick a skill -> Pick the "modifier" for the skill, and that's it. You have reached the maximum customization for that ability. You can then invest more points into the base skill to make number go up. Wow...
The skill tree is laughably small, I legit was confused when I got to level 25 and there was just nothing else down there. It's crazy. You get 1 of 2 skills, then 1 of 2 passives for that skill for each "Wheel" on the twig. I can't even believe that you thought this was ok. Maybe if this was a Fisher Price Baby's First ARPG I could see "Sure, toddlers will have fun with this" but it's honestly an insult to my intelligence as a human and a would-be customer.
I cannot express enough how boring and bad the talent/skill options are. I will not call this a skill tree, as it is not such. It is a "pick ability" and then "pick modifier for ability" screen. The passives are all laughably bad, and the amount of things to choose from is pathetic. What has been going on in the last several years of this games development?
This is probably the most important aspect of the game and it's one of the worst parts of it.

Gameplay - 

Dungeons - I sincerely hope you don't count Iceworn Cellar as a "dungeon" or that these type of "hole in the wall" things are considered dungeons. -- "OVER 150 DUNGEONS BTW" - I bet they classify these as a dungeon.
I go to a level 8 area, come back, and it's level 16? Bad. Bad bad bad. I don't want to go back to places I've already been but they are just higher level. Terrible, boring, lazy. Make more areas with more variety. This is not the way to create a game in 2023. Maybe in 2002 this would have been acceptable, but this is not it.
Where is the music? There seems to be no music in this game at all, it's really weird. The zones are just silent, empty, and... idk, music just makes the areas feel so much better, and without music it feels like it's a fake experience.
No loot filter - and items drop as "Raw base" item. Such as "Helm" or "boots" or "bow." There are no distinguishable qualities differing one item from the next aside from "ITEM POWER" which is unspeakably awful beyond words ability to express. Items need to drop identified and there needs to be a loot filter able to show/hide items based on item type/mods/etc.
At the end of a dungeon, why is there no "Return" rope like in the very first dungeon of the game? Why is that a one off thing? Sure, you can "escape dungeon" but it just.. doesn't makes sense why you would implement this basic, obvious thing, and then never use it again.

Combat - 

Randomly attack barrels/objects, causing attacks to miss or be deflected, such as ranged shots. Super suck mega bad.
You can't see your debuffs on you?? Such as chill, slow, frozen, etc. WTF???
There is no Z axis. You cannot jump over traps. ???????
Melee attacks don't cleave? Just single target whacks? Feelsbadman.
Getting hit by something that you dodge away from, getting stunned, and THEN your dodge goes off is just terrible. There seems to be very weird input delay when using abilities. Dodge should always take priority and cancel queue animations or abilities as soon as you hit dodge. Nothing feels worse than properly timing a dodge only to be hit by it, stunned, and then your dodge goes off.
The entire "Core" vs "Basic" ability damage thing is absolutely stupid.
Gameplay clarity is impossible to decipher. Why am I slowed? Why am I stunned? Why can't I moved? What is hurting me? The absolutel lack of any visual cues in the mess of monsters is ridiculous. Especially compounded by the fact that FOR SOME REASON there is NO VISUAL HUD on the interface which shows your debuffs or afflictions on you. Completely unreal.
"Ultimate" skill doesn't get its own keybind/slot? HUGE MISTAKE. BIg big big bad. Badabig bad omega bad. So stupid.
The skill trees are a COMPLETE JOKE lmao I cannot believe how embarassingly small these are. Skill Twig more like it. This isn't even a branch, let alone A TREE.
Animations seem wildly varied in a bad way. Why are the animations for enemies only like 12 fps? It's like a slideshow.
There are A TON of just TERRIBLE boss encounters, such as the Broodguard spider boss - This entire fight is absolutely terrible. None of it makes any sense, you just randomly get snared for no apparent reason and can't move? Absolutely garbage fight. Terrible encounter in every way.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
8/10 game

Overall, it feels really scuffed, like a diablo immortal clone build for PC. I am glad I only spent 3 dollars for a KFC sandwich to get this play experience, as I can 100% without a doubt vehemently say this game is not worth 70 dollars.
Diablo 4 is an aggressive expression of mediocrity and soulless game design. It does nothing well, and the things it does best it steals from other games. It takes the worst parts of Diablo 3 and copy/pastes them right back into the game as if it's something new we'd never seen before, or as if it's something fresh and interesting, when in fact it's old and stale. What could have been a great game has been whittled down to the bare nub of pathetic gimmicky tripe. It does not feel like Diablo, it feels more like an arcade game. I was hoping so much that this game would be at least "good" - but it cannot even meet those low expecations. There is not a single redeeming aspect of this game that I can recommened someone to experience. Unless you're getting the game for free, do not even bother with it. Blizzard is dead, and we will never get another good game from them again. Diablo 3 was an utter travesty and complete joke. Diablo 4 looks to be following in kind.

General - 

Minimap [Tab] is super annoying, just show the normal overlay. Have [M] be a larger more detailed map. It's 2023, there is no reason not to have a simple minimap overlay like every game has had prior, it's a massive quality of life change that is massively needed.
Not being able to use Left Click for "Move, pickup, interact" is turbo suck giga bad. How is this not something that was fixed in early alpha?
Why does the Ultimate Skill not have a dedicated keybind and hotbar slot? Doesn't make sense. We already only have 4 real slots to use, and this takes up one of them. Feels so bad.
There is zero feeling of an "open world" with other players. Not really a "bad" thing imo, it's just not what I had thought it would be. I think I've seen 2 other people the entire time in the actual game (not in town). I was expecting a lot more. Open world feels like a dead game. There is no one ever anywhere. The only time I see people is in town, or directly outside of town and then they phase into a different shard or something.
Not being able to mouseover an item that drops and see it stats is kind of ridiculous. Why does the item information not show when you hover over it? It doesn't even show the basic item information other than "Helm" or "Boot."
User Interface is kind of odd so far, not a fan of the characteinventory screens. Why are Materials shown in the Stats menu, and not in their own inventory tab down at the bottom like Quest Items/Equipement/Etc?
No global/all chat? Isn't this supposed to be an online arpg pseudo-mmo? How is there no way to chat? There is "Trade" and "Local" chat, but I've never seen anyone say anything in game yet, it's just NPC's filling up the chat box. No one ever talks in the chat, very strange.
Can't show health/mana/energy numbers. Why not? I want to know these parameters at all times please! Very important to me.
The UI is so bad. Why do things pop up in the middle of the screen? There is so much wasted screen real estate, use it. Why can we not at least customize the ui a bit? Why is the health/mana globe centered around the middle, and not made to be on either side of the screen? Feels like a mobile game. Thankfully there is "use side mode" where you can affix your hud to the bottom left, but it's not as good as it could be. Feels super scuffed and something out of a 2014 mobile game.
Chat location on the bottom right? Why? Why can't we move chat and change chat settings? I don't want to hear the villagers talk, well I do want to HEAR them, but I don't want this in the chat window.
When Shift Clicking items to/from stash, if it is a stack of items it instead tries to split the stack. How has this not been fixed? Seems like a pretty huge and obvious thing for anyone who has played the game to immediately notice and bring up.
Dungeons are super repetitve and annoying. There are no mobs in them, and it takes forever. It's mostly just walking around clicking [PROGRESSION OBJECT] and carrying the object to the [KEYHOLE]. This is a really massive issue since a large portion of end game will (from what I've heard) be running dungeons, it's beyong annoying. I've only done the ones in availabel in the beta and already it's just a chore.
"World Tiers" is the biggest cop out joke of "difficulty" I have ever seen. There should be one difficulty - the game. That's it. If you can't balance the game around that and make the experience enjoyable, challening, and fulfilling, you're a failure at development. Lost Ark, Path of Exile, Last Epoch, etc - just one difficulty. The game. You play the game, there are no arbitrary sliders for "easy" "Hard" "Harder" "Harderer" - it's time to get real and adapt to the times. This is not 2004 anymore, this is not an acceptable design philosophy. The fact that there are multiple difficulties like we're playing diablo 2 from 2002 is a resounding announcement of failure in game design, where they have failed to create a compelling, challenging, and interesting game where the 1-50 (level cap?) experience works.
Level Scaling zones is awful. It feels like I'm progressively getting weaker while enemies get stronger, rather than my character actually getting stroner. Sure, my NUMBER GO UP, but it takes about the same time to kill things at level 25 with fully decked out character as it did at level 4 with white items half naked. It's terrible. My level 7 barbarian kills stuff faster than my geared out level 25 rogue.
Leveling feels really bad. You get a single skill point and that's it. Extremely shallow and boring. Why are there no other things in which we can invest in to empower our characters when leveling up? This entire game feels like a hollow shell of what could have been a great experience, but it only leaves me with a bitter resentment for the franchise downfall starting with Diablo 3.
What even is the point of the alchemist and potions? It's not crafting at all. It's just a checkbox that is level gated that you unlock pretty mcuh regardless of what you do. There are no options, nothing interesting, there isn't any cool effects or different types of potions. It's just the same thing but higher number. Complete joke of a system.
The same can be said for the blacksmith, where it costs an unholy amount of gold to upgrade an item by a small margin, or to add a socket with the Jeweler... it's all so bad. It's unbelivable to me that a multi billion dollar company can continue to produce such immense mediocrity. It insults me as a consumer when these products are put before me and you say "Better pny up 70 bucks you dirty little pay piggy!"

Gear - 

So far items have been just "Green number good." It's terrible. Worst gearing system in an ARPG since Diablo 3. It's... it's just Diablo 3 all over again... Where is the cool stuff, where are the fun mods, where are the things which make me think "Hmm, should I use Item A over Item B?" it's just GREEN NUMBER GO UP -> Equip. Disgusting.
Item Power - no. Just, no. This is not the way geaitemization should work. Remove this number.
Stats are weird. Lucky Strike is awfully weird and seems completely pointless/arbitrary.
"Reduced Damage Taken from far away mobs" - stupid. Why? Just give it increased armor or dodge and call it good. Why are these stats in the game, they are so pointless. "Increased damage with Core/Basic skills" another stupid stat. These should just be removed completely and better, more meaningful stats put into the game.
Why do Int/Dex/Str scale so bad? 0.1% increase per strength? Jesus christ man it's like Diablo 3 all over again. D3 is terrible, please stop trying to replicate that horrible game.
Item stats are stupid and unfun so far. Sure, I'm, only level 25, but they're very bland and boring. +1.2% Damage, +20 Willpower, wow... so interesting and fun. I cannot express the importance of good and interesting itemization.
Why is every item just "Bow" or "Shield" or "boots"?? There is no differentiating from one item to another. The only difference is NUMBER GO UP power. It's god awful.
Gems and Sockets. Same old crap. Ruby in armor -> Crit Damage/Skill Damage in Weapon. Zero thought, zero fun, zero interest. Complete dead system. Why does this even exist? It is so unreal to me how bland and soulless almost evertyhing in the entire game is.

Skills - 

Skill tree sucks. Pick ability, pick simple passive. Nothing really interesting or fun about them at all. Maybe at later levels it gets more interesting, but currently it's just lame boring stuff.
Not nearly enough options for skills. You get to pick 1 of two, often times extremely lame, modifiers. This is not a skill tree, it's a joke.
Pick a skill -> Pick the "modifier" for the skill, and that's it. You have reached the maximum customization for that ability. You can then invest more points into the base skill to make number go up. Wow...
The skill tree is laughably small, I legit was confused when I got to level 25 and there was just nothing else down there. It's crazy. You get 1 of 2 skills, then 1 of 2 passives for that skill for each "Wheel" on the twig. I can't even believe that you thought this was ok. Maybe if this was a Fisher Price Baby's First ARPG I could see "Sure, toddlers will have fun with this" but it's honestly an insult to my intelligence as a human and a would-be customer.
I cannot express enough how boring and bad the talent/skill options are. I will not call this a skill tree, as it is not such. It is a "pick ability" and then "pick modifier for ability" screen. The passives are all laughably bad, and the amount of things to choose from is pathetic. What has been going on in the last several years of this games development?
This is probably the most important aspect of the game and it's one of the worst parts of it.

Gameplay - 

Dungeons - I sincerely hope you don't count Iceworn Cellar as a "dungeon" or that these type of "hole in the wall" things are considered dungeons. -- "OVER 150 DUNGEONS BTW" - I bet they classify these as a dungeon.
I go to a level 8 area, come back, and it's level 16? Bad. Bad bad bad. I don't want to go back to places I've already been but they are just higher level. Terrible, boring, lazy. Make more areas with more variety. This is not the way to create a game in 2023. Maybe in 2002 this would have been acceptable, but this is not it.
Where is the music? There seems to be no music in this game at all, it's really weird. The zones are just silent, empty, and... idk, music just makes the areas feel so much better, and without music it feels like it's a fake experience.
No loot filter - and items drop as "Raw base" item. Such as "Helm" or "boots" or "bow." There are no distinguishable qualities differing one item from the next aside from "ITEM POWER" which is unspeakably awful beyond words ability to express. Items need to drop identified and there needs to be a loot filter able to show/hide items based on item type/mods/etc.
At the end of a dungeon, why is there no "Return" rope like in the very first dungeon of the game? Why is that a one off thing? Sure, you can "escape dungeon" but it just.. doesn't makes sense why you would implement this basic, obvious thing, and then never use it again.

Combat - 

Randomly attack barrels/objects, causing attacks to miss or be deflected, such as ranged shots. Super suck mega bad.
You can't see your debuffs on you?? Such as chill, slow, frozen, etc. WTF???
There is no Z axis. You cannot jump over traps. ???????
Melee attacks don't cleave? Just single target whacks? Feelsbadman.
Getting hit by something that you dodge away from, getting stunned, and THEN your dodge goes off is just terrible. There seems to be very weird input delay when using abilities. Dodge should always take priority and cancel queue animations or abilities as soon as you hit dodge. Nothing feels worse than properly timing a dodge only to be hit by it, stunned, and then your dodge goes off.
The entire "Core" vs "Basic" ability damage thing is absolutely stupid.
Gameplay clarity is impossible to decipher. Why am I slowed? Why am I stunned? Why can't I moved? What is hurting me? The absolutel lack of any visual cues in the mess of monsters is ridiculous. Especially compounded by the fact that FOR SOME REASON there is NO VISUAL HUD on the interface which shows your debuffs or afflictions on you. Completely unreal.
"Ultimate" skill doesn't get its own keybind/slot? HUGE MISTAKE. BIg big big bad. Badabig bad omega bad. So stupid.
The skill trees are a COMPLETE JOKE lmao I cannot believe how embarassingly small these are. Skill Twig more like it. This isn't even a branch, let alone A TREE.
Animations seem wildly varied in a bad way. Why are the animations for enemies only like 12 fps? It's like a slideshow.
There are A TON of just TERRIBLE boss encounters, such as the Broodguard spider boss - This entire fight is absolutely terrible. None of it makes any sense, you just randomly get snared for no apparent reason and can't move? Absolutely garbage fight. Terrible encounter in every way.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
8/10 game

INSPIRATION:
First of all i want to say a shout out to XiaZTV on YT. while trying to fix the puzzle desperately, i found his video. i couldn't find anyone else replicating what he did (maybe i didn't look hard enough. he doesn't give much of an explanation (maybe he does. its an 8 hour video of the campaign. i skipped to maps and figured out what he was doing). He left no Pob Either, so i came out with everything. also, he took the char to like lvl 80 so i pushed the PoB to its maximum.
DISCLAIMER:
this is not a starter build. i will say that this is not a crazy good build (5~ Mil dps and medium defenses. medium speed). This is a highly mechanical and convoluted idea to create a walking on-hit lightning RF. i like to do builds that
a:can do all content (bar ubers. not that my builds can, im just not good enough to do them)
b: use a lot of mechanics
c: automate and press as little as physically possible. (1 or 2 buttons and always moving if able)
Also i want to mention that while i speak english most all the time is not my native language and my dyslexic brain makes me misspell a lot. i wont care to fix it that much. also im not a math savvant, tho there is nothing too crazy here.
TL:DR
This build focuses on creating a galvanic field on us, allowing us to deal lightning damage on hit around us while we are free to move a la RF. we use ascendant for some elemental damage (elementalist and +1 curse for ele weak from Occul.), but most importantly, we use the pathfinder to help perma flask sustain. we use damage conversions + flask reduced dmg taken to mitigate hits, we got 5 to 6 mil dps with very high upkeep, and about 4000 k hp. also of note, i always plan my builds for lvl 98.
PoB at bottom.
​
IN DEPTH MECHANICS
​
Ok lets get to the fun part then. Here are the base concepts of how the stuff works, if u know u can ignore this. go below for the actual solution
there is a couple of things to consider. lets overvew galvanic field mechanics first
THE PUZZLE
GALVANIC FIELD:
galvanic field gives us a buff to shock chance(irrelevant). then, as soon as we shock anything, it creates a damage bubble that constantly hits enemies in its radious for a duration. important facts:
-aoe and damage increase a LOT based on shock effect. the higher the better. (on top of the shock effect itself)
-While the target has to bee initially shocked, THE TARGET DOESNT NEED TO REMAIN SHOCKED. The field "Snapshots" the shock that created it.
-The galvanic field will stick to the target as long as it exists, it will not switch targets, you cant have 2 galv fields, if you cast it again, you loose the field to whatever u reshock.
-Galv field cant shock.
​
SHOCK:
Shock increases damage to whatever it afflicts, lasting 2 secs. shock is based on the dmg of the hit relative to the max HP of the target, 5% and below shocks will be discarded (tho, i have shocked myself for 4% so idk). shock comes from crits (not for us) and from chance to shock. only lightning damage can shock. shock effect can be scaled with inc light ailments or inc non damaging ailments. the cap for shock is 50%, but we can increased by 15% from a mastery and 40% from the voltaxic rift unique bow. to an effect of 105%. Note that this affects OUR SHOCKS. no matter what we shock (like for example, us). lastly, when afflicted with shock from multiple sources, only the largest shock applies, so if we are shocked by 30% and we are hit by a 15% shock, the 15% one will not overwrite the higher one. however IT DOES COUNT AS BEING RESHOCKED ( if we are shocked by 30% and we are shocked 10 times with 5% shocks, we been shocked 11 times, but we are still just at 30% shock)
SHOCKING OURSELVES:
If we can apply shock to ourselves, we will create a galvanic field on us. for this we need:
1- to shock ourselves. this might sound obvious but it makes sense in a bit)
2-for the shock to be strong enough to count.(since we do it ourselves, our shock cap and inc effect will help)
3- to be the first thing we shock (so the bubble doesn't attach to another thing)
4- next, we want to remove the shock asap to not die immediately lol.
WHAT WORS AND WHAT DOESNT:
1- vessel of vinktar is a key part of the build, but is not as easy as toggling for 50% shock on us and be done. The flask is considered as the source of the shock, meaning we are not shocking ourselves, thus we will not create a GF on us, or on enemies.
2-hits. If we hit ourself to bypass the threshold, we can shock ourselves, there is multiple ways to hit ourselves (scold bride, storm secret), but we want one that is completley under our control. furthermore, the hit needs to have light damage, and lastly, our hit has to have a chance to shock us even if its lightning.
3- EZ unaffected by shock right? unfortunately no. tho unaffected should respect the shock strength we are applying, but ignore it, it sets us at 0% shock, so we cant just apply 105% shocks and forget .
OBJECTIVES:
we need to
a: cast galvanic field
b: shock ourselves hard.
c: remove shock/ be unaffected by shock ASAP. (remember GF stays and snapshots the shock that created it)
4:repeat when the GF ends (10 sec on Pob tho i would reapply a little earlier due to gear. more later.)
SOLUTION:
In order to reach our objectives we need to use all the mechanics above. while the self shock is ez, till now we had problems mitigating the shock on ourselves.
here is what we do, bare with me, cuz this shit is awesome (to me).
1 CAST GF
2: DRINK YOUR FLASKS: by using the traitor + a chest implicit, some tree investment, asendency, and a extra flask generation on belt, we perma flask the vessel. it will not be enough to apply the GF on us, BUT IT WILL PUT THE HIGH SHOCK ON US, WHICH SCALES WITH MAX SHOCK AND SHOCK EFFECT, AND WONT BE OVERWRITTEN BY OWER SHOCKS!
NOTE: "we enchant it with either used at the end of flask", or "used when shocked". the reason for this is that im unsure if the shock updates dynamically if the flask is active and we increase our shock cap, if anyone can confirm ill be thankful. (more of this below)
3: SHOCKING OURSELVES WITH HITS
3a-SWAP WEAPON TO TAKE DMG: we will be hitting ourselves with a hertbound loop + a spectral spirit essence weapon swap. the spirits come in a pack of three, meaning HB Loop hits us 3 separate times (important for shocking our ass). the spirits are immune, so no need for scaling. when weapon swamping, they die, thus we take physical damage. OF NOTE, THIS THE SPECTRAL SPIRIT WEAPON IS OUR MAIN WEAPON MEANING U GOTTA CRAFT IT PROPPERLY FOR DMG (unlike ward loopers)
3b-PHYS TAKEN AS LIGHT: we convert 20%~ phys taken to light. we get it from a shield corrupt (8%), helm eldrich implicit (8 to 10 or so) and a chest craft (6%). this also comes as a defensive layer vs phys ( we got the 75% res and 30% reduced from flask effect). should be enough + status effect in order to go through the 5% threshold. note that the amount of shock doesn't matter, only that we do it ourselves.
3c- CHANCE TO BE SHOCKED: in order to increase our chance to be shocked we use x1 replica reckless defence (10%) and, more importantly, rotgut ring ,divergent wrath, and ashes of the stars. Wrath reduces light res AND GIVES ENEMIES A CHANCE TO BE SHOCKED. divirgent INCREACES THAT CHANCE. at 53 qual, it has a wooping 78% chance to shocked. but because of blasphemy and rotgut reducing curses on you, we have less, but by scaling curse effect ( i just have 20%) we mitigate the reduction, but not the less. in all we end up at 68.5% chance to be shocked (based on math, pob cant help, correct me if wrong) and since we are hit 3 times the chance of being shocked at least once is 96.9%. meaning that we will be shocked on almost all weap swaps.
3d: HOW HARD ARE WE SHOCKING OURSELVES?: u migth notice we dont have a voltaxic rift. well, thats our switch weapon! by swamping, we trigger the self damage, which shocks us, and we immediatly increast the shockcap to 105 thanks to voltaxic rift (this is why idk if we need to update the vessel). the vessel shock scaled will take us to 105%, and we will create a very big galvanic field on ourselves! because shock is a debuff unrelated to skills and gear (once applied), galvanic will snapshot the 105%, so we can swap back for free.
4: SWAP BACK: our main dmg is here and more importantly, our shield. swamping is instant and free btw.
4a- REMOVE THE SHOCK: on our shield slot we use the key item: THE SCALES OF JUSTICE. this shield reads: UNNAFECTED BY IGNITE OR SHOCK WHILE LIFE AND MANA ARE WITHIN 500. now i will be honest, i havent used the thing yet. so i am not entirely sure of how its wording works. the "within 500" means that your life and mana should be like 500 from each other, i think. the "shock or ignite" is more concerning. if it means that ull ignore one or the other, then i might have to fit a ignite avoidance (not impossible, a flask is enough).
Anyways, because we ignore shock ONLY WHEN OUR SHIELD IS BEING HELD, we can jump from 105% to 0% almost immediatly(server ticks/human reaction/lag).
of course its not prefect, this means we cant avoid all ailments (boots + braine for chill and freeze are a must) but we are fucked vs brittle and scorch. also the shield "or" wording needs testing. imo its very good, reliable, even.
THE PUZZLE HAS BEEN SOLVED (most likley, i might have skipped something, its all theorical)
THE GEAR:
all gear must have life and mana exept the weapon ofc.
WEAPONS 1
-rare scepter: +1 or +2. spell or light damage for prfixes. only important suffix is the essence craft, trigger spectral spirits.
-shield is the scales ofc for those juicy 0% shocks.
WEAPONS 2:
- voltaxic rift for those juicy 105% shocks
-Replica Maloney Mechanism: trigger frenzy on cast. moew on gems. CWDT will go off immediatly on switch. (unsure if trigger triggers triggers now thaat i think about it, if so any fat rare is enough unless im missing a cool unique)
JEWLERY:
-rotgut: key for shocking ourselves. att catalyst
-HB Loop- key for hitting ourselves. corruption for wrath. ideally, phys catalysts for more dmg on you to secure the shock.
- Ashes of the stars: scaling both Phantasmal GF (creazy radius Buff) and Divirgent conductivity for a lot of inc chance of shocking ourselves. other quals are cool but not that important. Reservation is juicy AF. annoint Crusader since we want big mana. Att Catalyst.
- Belt: Rare stygian with mana and life, inc flasc charge gain, and reduced flask used. enchant for arcane surge aoe. good place to get strength. Life calatyst. i dont craft belt i buy them,
ARMOUR:
I prefer armor bases or armo Es bases.
-Body: Eldrich fracture + Essence crafted Life, mana and crafted % taken as light for pref. Suffix we want the essence mod "Onslaught if hit" for perma onslaught (we hit ourselves) and resists. for Implicits we want 2 charges every 3 secs. the other can be whatever, probably an aura effect. wrath or zeal for offence. Enchant for life from harvest
-Helm: Eldritch fracture +Essence crafted. Life and mana + Phys as fire (optional )on Pref. Suffixes u want reservation from essences and Res. Implicits, conductivity curse effect and phys as light. Enchant for Reservation of whatever u have corrupted on ring (wrath).
-Gloves: Eldritch probably essence craft ( not mandatory)with fracture. Life and mana and dmg if leeching craft on prefix. unveiled crit and ele dmg suffix and fat res. Implicits, use exposure to light and unnerve .Enchant with spite (best by far specially when u can trigger it on your own). this gloves are massive dmg.
Boots: Eldritch + harvest with fracture. this might be annoying. life and mana + unveiled MS + avoid chill are the GOAT prefixes. suffixes you just want res. Implicit use Scorch ground for fat dmg, and the other is realty personal taste. might need to put ignite avoidance. do not use ele avoidance.
Flasks:
1Vessel of vinktar: mandatory dmg, self shock, prolif, and resists. use the prolif one! check rolls and qual. also enchant for reuse on end or activate on shock (not sure yet)
2Quicksilver: inc effect prefix and whatever u want suffix, armour, bleed avoidance, maybe we need it to avoid ignite. reused at the end.
3elixir of the unbroken circle: endurance charge generation + clutch healing. i really like it.
4: personal choice between taste of hate or a crafted ruby/saphire one. taste of hate has a creazy 18% conversion to cold that really should come in clutch, on top of the 30% reduced cold.
JEWELS:
1Leap on witch to reach a lot of mana and damage and reservation efficiency.
2Unnatural instinct onleft scion is insane for us. inc skill efect, mana, some regen and even efficiency. creazy good period.
3 and 4 flesh and flame with either occultist or elementalist for the damage and utility both provide.
5 Replica reckless def: see mechanics above.
6Watcher eye: get light damage, consecrated damage, or whatever u prefer. big hp mana and dmg as always.
7 Restraint timeless jewel. get the traitor on supreme ego. get if u can an alchemist genius. the other is reduced charges used. both is godly.
8 Large clust with prismatic heart overshock and wide spread destruction/ standard. get str if possible.
9Rare abyss with life and mana and as much str as u can get.
GEMS
Active skills:
6L GALVANIC FIELD-> Phantasmal GF + AW added light + AW Ele focus + Empower + AW light pen + Inspiration. standard all dmg gems. see pob. dont use contoled destruction since we want some crits for EO. Phantasmal, combined with 105% shocks and ashes, is a very big bubble. ele focus is free. inspiration charges gotten from movement skill rather than the GF. IDK if there is anything i could put in that gets better results than this.
4L SUPPORTING SHOCK NOVA-> to use on bosses in order to shock them hard, not for dmg. supported by overcharge and unbound ailments for nasty shocks of 75% inc dmg. the last gem is free. i put there divirgent innervate for the triggering on bosses but its unrealistic to expect it to trigger. you can put whatever. if u have a better ide lemme know.
3L SUPORTING MOVEMNT: max lvl Divirgent Dash, lvl 1 Arcane surge, and max lvl Inspiration. this nets us inpire charges since we cast very little galvanic fields, max lvl so that we keep them as long as possible., arcane surge ofc low lvl to perma trigger. Phasing is the cherry on top. make sure this goes on the shield!
Reservation
4L AURA-> enlighten zealotry determination and herald of thunder for max dmg and vital armour. herald can be changed to defiance or to vitality. change determination lvl depending on str.
BLASPHEMY DIVIRGENT CONDUCTIVITY
CORRUPTION ON LOOP FOR WRATH
Triggers and perma stuff:
4l CWDT: lvl 1 CWDT - lvl 10 Molten Shell - lvl 1 Divirgent Purifying flame -lvl 5 Elemental weakness/ lvl 20 Steelskin/ Molten. i love proactive cwdt. this should trigger on weapon switch. PF and EW are masive dmg. MS is oviously a defensive layer. can be changed for Steelskin. Watch out for mana costs tho. UPDATE: swiching molten shell/steelskin lvl 20 on main click.
3l MINION SUPPORT: culling strike + meat shield are key. cull is a 11% more dmg. meat shield taunts enemies which is a big mitigation. last is kinda free. i use faster minions for more consistency idk. i dont play minions.
REPLICA MALONEY: Frenzy + inc accuracy + GMP. in theory cwdt should trigger the frenzy every time we switch for frenzy generation. frenzies are buffs separate from the frenzy skill. meaning that they persist after switching (i tested this). UPDATE: we should easily trigger this by having vortex at Mainclick on bow
VOLTAXIC: lvl 1 CWDT + lvl 1 Anomalous sigil of power + Lifetap + Inc AOE or nothing/ LVL 4 VORTEX. portal. anomalous sigil, with ashes, is just 2 stages. so as we cast it we got a little window of 11% less dmg take, to help with the shock. not that important. we need lifetap to use and its like 300 hp so any further support is gona tax u harder. in theory u can a cwdt anything on the bow, but remember it will dissipate as soon as u switch back. UPDATE: added vortex lvl 4 so its not triggered by CWDT. put on main click, as soon as u switch u will throw a vortex, triggering maloney.
CONCLUSION
Thats all. if u read till here, thank you, i WANT feedback!!!
here is my PoB.
https://pastebin.com/w3i4Kt0p

Armenia expects active steps from the allied countries to exclude the use of force by Azerbaijan – FM Mirzoyan

On March 17, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan received Imangali Tasmagambetov, the Secretary General of CSTO
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan emphasized the need for a clear and targeted response of the organization to the military aggression carried out by Azerbaijan against the sovereign territory of Armenia, which is a member of the CSTO.
The humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh resulting from the blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan was touched upon. The Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed the imperative to implement the provisions of the November 9, 2020 Trilateral Statement and the decision made by the International Court of Justice on February 22 regarding the request for provisional measures against Azerbaijan.
During the meeting the General Secretary of the CSTO shared his impressions from his visit to the city of Jermuk the day before.
The Foreign Minister underlined that the Azerbaijani side with its continuous provocations is disrupting the efforts to establish peace and stability in the region, while Azerbaijan's bellicose rhetoric is aimed at preparing ground for the use of large-scale force against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, as well as Nagorno-Karabakh. In this context, the importance of the need to undertake active steps by the allies and partners of the Republic of Armenia towards fulfilling Azerbaijan’s obligations and excluding manifestations of the use of force by Azerbaijan was highlighted.
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1106592.html

Former NATO chief hails Armenia’s democratic development

"Armenia is a country at a crossroads, both geographically and politically."
"Since 2018, its democracy has made important strides forward. The EU and democratic world must do more to support this development."
"Thank you for the hospitality during my visit this week."
https://en.armradio.am/2023/03/17/former-nato-chief-hails-armenias-democratic-development/

PM Pashinyan, CSTO Secretary General discuss Armenian-Azerbaijani border situation

The Armenian Prime Minister and the CSTO Secretary General exchanged views on the current situation in the CSTO area of responsibility, regional developments and security challenges. In this context they also discussed a number of issues related to the Armenian-Azerbaijani border situation and the CSTO collective defense mechanisms.
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1106578.html

CSTO Secretary General agrees that Aliyev’s latest speech ‘contradicts the Prague and Sochi statements

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1106551.html

Armenian Defense Minister briefs CSTO Secretary General on Armenia’s expectations

Opinions were exchanged on a number of international and regional security issues, including the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani լline of content and the military-political situation around Armenia.
Speaking about the border situation, Suren Papikyan presented the long-standing problems with launching of CSTO collective security mechanisms and the expectations of the Armenian Ministry of Defense.
https://en.armradio.am/2023/03/16/armenian-defense-minister-briefs-csto-secretary-general-about-armenias-expectations/

"Events forced." Foreign Minister on security cooperation with the EU

Armenia is convinced that the two-month deployment of EU observers, which later became the basis for the approval of a new two-year mission, prevented a large-scale provocation at the border. This is perhaps the most important achievement of 2022 in the direction of European integration. Now new developments are underway in this direction of cooperation. Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan confirms: Armenia-EU cooperation in the field of security has a tendency to deepen.
The meetings on security issues mentioned by the Deputy Foreign Minister, the dialogue of the structures should have a regular character, experts from different ministries will also participate in the meetings.
Parallel to concerns and worries, the Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiations on the text of the "peace treaty" continue. Along with the security issues, the Prime Minister of Armenia admitted during his last press conference. the more the negotiations with Azerbaijan continue, the more fundamental problems appear.
Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan explained with just one example what the term "fundamental problems" means.
In the territorial formulations of Azerbaijan, where Yerevan has appeared in the territory of so-called "western Azerbaijan", there are also territorial aspirations towards Syunik, under the formulation called "Zangezur Corridor".
As a matter of fact, Armenia is trying to insure this direction through EU programs. The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs mentions several such programs that are planned to be implemented in cooperation with the EU.
"We keep the Syunik issue on our agenda with almost all our partners. I think we will make progress this year, and there is interest from a number of European, American, and Canadian partners. During the last few weeks, there were additional discussions, I think we will have results quite soon."
Arman Yeghoyan, Chairman of the Standing Committee on European Integration of the National Assembly, details the programs related to Syunik.
"You will have seen there that a 51 million program is already being implemented under the "Team Europe" program. The "EU Resistance Tool for Armenia" financing agreement was approved, within the framework of which 9 million grant support will be provided to the support of SMEs operating in Syunik region, and the program for the development of informal, innovative education in Syunik with a total cost of 20 million euros is in the stage of being summarized and approved. by which 2 COAF SMART centers will be created in Syunik marz".
Returning to the correspondence related to the Armenia-Azerbaijan "peace agreement", the Deputy Foreign Minister stated in a conversation with journalists that now is not the stage to clearly answer whether the Nagorno-Karabakh issue and Armenia-Azerbaijan relations will be resolved in one package or in separate processes.
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Armenia has received new proposals on peace treaty from Azerbaijan, will present observations in near future – PM

“We are thus stepping into the fourth round of discussions on the draft peace treaty. We will discuss and present our observations in the near future,” he said.
“We are committed to and will not deviate from the peace agenda,” PM Pashinyan stressed.
At the same time, he drew the attention of the international community to the fact that in disrespect for Article 8 of the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, Azerbaijan is yet to return the Armenian prisoners of war and other detained persons and continues the occupation of the Armenian sovereign territory captured in1994, 2021 and 2022.
https://en.armradio.am/2023/03/16/armenia-has-received-new-proposals-on-peace-treaty-from-azerbaijan-will-present-observations-in-near-future-pm/

Peace treaty must guarantee Armenia’s sovereignty, the rights and security of Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh – European Parliament

The European Parliament reaffirms that in order to be effective, a comprehensive peace treaty must include provisions that guarantee the integrity of Armenia’s sovereign territory, the rights and security of the Armenian population residing in Nagorno-Karabakh and other conflict-afflicted areas, and the prompt and safe return of refugees and internally displaced people to their homes; recalls that the root cause of the conflict, which is the situation and security of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh and the status of the formerly autonomous region, remains unresolved; calls on the international community to keep its attention on this conflict, which is a matter of stability and security for the whole region.
Members of the European parliament support the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey in the interest of reconciliation, regional stability and security as well as socio-economic development and welcomes the progress achieved so far, including the resumption of flights between the two countries; call for the speedy implementation of agreements reached by the special representatives; recalls that the previous attempt to normalize relations between Armenia and Turkey through the signing of 2009 protocols failed because of Turkey’s unilateral support for Azerbaijan and its decision to make the opening of the border and establishment of diplomatic relations with Armenia conditional on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict; call on both sides to engage in the process in good faith and without preconditions and calls for the EU to actively support this process; expresses the hope that this may give impetus to the normalization of relations in the South Caucasus region; encourage Turkey once again to recognize the Armenian Genocide to pave the way for genuine reconciliation between the Turkish and Armenian peoples, and to fully respect its obligations to protect Armenian cultural heritage.
https://en.armradio.am/2023/03/15/peace-treaty-must-guarantee-armenias-sovereignty-the-rights-and-security-of-armenians-in-nagorno-karabakh-european-parliament/

The Prime Minister and the head of the IMF mission in Armenia discuss issues of the cooperation

Expressing satisfaction with the IMF-Armenia partnership, the Prime Minister attached importance to the IMF's support for the Government's reform agenda. Nikol Pashinyan emphasized that last year Armenia recorded high indicators of economic growth and state revenue growth. The Prime Minister of Armenia emphasized that the Government is determined to continue the reforms in various directions and emphasizes consistent work with international partner structures along the way.
The head of the IMF mission in Armenia thanked for the high assessment and noted that the IMF will continue to support the economic progress of our country and the reforms initiated by the Government. According to her, Armenia's economic indicators are quite noteworthy, and the IMF is interested in the development of effective cooperation.
The Prime Minister presented the reforms and recorded results in the diversification of the economy, ensuring financial and economic stability, improving the investment environment, infrastructure development, legislative regulations, fight against corruption, tax sector, and other directions as well.
The sides exchanged ideas on current economic trends and expectations from 2023.
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1106613.html

Artsakh MFA highlighted the proposals of CE resolutions to impose sanctions on Baku officials

"We consider it important that the European Parliament has clearly acknowledged in its resolutions that the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, which has lasted for more than three decades and resulted in tens of thousands of victims, enormous destruction and the forced displacement of thousands of people, remains unresolved."
"In particular, the members of the European Parliament expressed fair and justified concern over the fact that the provisions of the cease-fire declaration of November 9, 2020, adopted after the 44-day war unleashed by Azerbaijan, were not fully implemented. deadly military clashes regularly break out, the cease-fire regime has been repeatedly violated, which has led to hundreds of victims and the new occupation of the territories of the Republic of Armenia by Azerbaijani troops, and since December 12, 2022, the traffic between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh through the Lachin Corridor has been blocked, which negatively affects the supply of food and other essential goods to Artsakh."
"In its resolution on EU-Azerbaijan relations, the European Parliament also accepted and condemned Turkey's expansionist and destabilizing role in the South Caucasus, which was also manifested by the sending of Syrian mercenaries to the conflict zone by Azerbaijan to participate in hostilities, and stated that Turkey needs to play a constructive role in the region. will review its unconditional support to Azerbaijan and take real steps to normalize relations with Armenia."
"We share the position of the MEPs that it is not possible to achieve a stable and lasting peace through military means, force or the threat of force, but a comprehensive political settlement is necessary in accordance with international law, including the UN Charter and the 1975 Charter. In accordance with the three principles of non-use of force, territorial integrity, equality and self-determination of peoples stipulated in the OSCE Helsinki Final Act, as well as the 2009 fundamental principles of the OSCE Minsk Group."
"In this regard, we agree with the members of the European Parliament that in order to achieve comprehensive peace, it is necessary to stop all violence and eliminate the root causes of the conflict, including the security and rights of the Artsakh Armenians, the determination of the final status of Artsakh, as well as the quick and swift return of all refugees and internally displaced persons to their homes. with a safe return solution."
"We are sure that the resolutions of the European Parliament, including the recommendations on imposing sanctions on Azerbaijani officials, will be an important contribution to the common efforts aimed at ending the blockade and stopping Azerbaijan's criminal plans to carry out ethnic cleansing and genocide in Artsakh."
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1106607.html

The Minister of State of Artsakh discussed the existing problems in the field of animal husbandry

"The lack of fodder continues to be filled at the expense of reserve stocks, but since the stocks are not exhausted, serious problems may arise if the blockade is extended. Therefore, it is necessary to accurately calculate the available opportunities and to undertake follow-up work aimed at mitigating the problem in a short period of time," Gurgen Nersisyan said in his speech.
The state minister instructed the officials of the sector to present the amount of fodder needed at this stage in a short period of time.
Reference was also made to the situation in the meat market, which, according to the officials of the sector, can be regulated after the animals mature.
The Ministers and Deputy Ministers of Agriculture, Finance and Economy, Director of the Rural and Agricultural Support Fund participated in the consultation.
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PM Pashinyan congratulates Irish counterpart on national holiday

“I congratulate you and the friendly people of Ireland on the Irish national holiday, St. Patrick's Day,” Pashinyan wrote in a telegram to Varadkar. “Armenia attaches great importance to the development of cooperation with Ireland based on democratic values, both on bilateral and multilateral platforms. I believe that there is a significant potential for cooperation between our countries, and I want to reaffirm the readiness of the Armenian side to maximally ensure the realization of this potential."
"I sincerely hope that in the near future we will have an opportunity to meet and discuss the Armenian-Irish bilateral agenda, enriching it with promising programs for the benefit and welfare of our countries."
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1106533.html

Yerevan Mayor Hrachya Sargsyan resigned

"I want to announce my resignation, at the same time announcing that I will continue to be with the political team. I will continue to work towards the development of our state," he said.
He expressed hope that the "Civil Agreement" party in the person of the mayoral candidate Tigran Avinyan will receive the vote of confidence of the people of Yerevan and will have the opportunity to continue the most important projects for the community.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1106584.html

The spring floods will ease the energy crisis in Artsakh, but they will not solve the problem

As a result of the energy crisis, more water was released from the reservoir than filled. The useful volume of the reservoir put into operation in 1976 is 550 million cubic meters. But the mark remains low, at the moment the volume of water is more than 30 meters lower than the planned initial stage. But due to the spring mudslides, the situation is satisfactory at the moment. The reservoir is used in Artsakh to get electricity.
"It will still work, because the volume of small hydropower plants is also increasing at the same time. Since it is a flood season, we will not have a problem in the spring. Let me say that the level of the Sarsang reservoir is raised by the muddy waters. In summer, the herd is not so big. Until July 15, the flows are normal, more than the expenditure, after which the cross process begins."
After the war, there are 5 small hydropower plants operating in the territory of the Republic of Artsakh. During this time, they will also work and generate electricity. A new hydropower plant with a capacity of 17.3 megawatts is being built in Artsakh, on the Tartar River. If everything goes as planned, the works will be completed next year. Even this year, in the besieged Artsakh, despite the enemy, agricultural works have started. The Minister of Agriculture of Artsakh emphasizes:
"It's been a week since we started using our pumping stations for irrigation purposes. The spring irrigation of the gardens has begun, and so has my spring sowing."
The energy crisis created by Azerbaijan will create problems for Azerbaijanis in the near future. In Artsakh, the water of the Sarsang reservoir is used only for obtaining electricity. However, due to the geographical location, after the production of electricity, the waters of Sarsang are poured into the Mataghis reservoir, from where they are used for irrigation purposes in the territory of Azerbaijan.
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Armenia set to employ international genocide prevention mechanisms to avert ethnic cleansing in Artsakh – PM

“Our assessment remains the same. The military-political leadership of Azerbaijan is preparing for ethnic cleansing and genocide of the people of Nagorno Karabakh. This has actually been enshrined in the February 22nd decision of the International Court of Justice, where it is clearly recorded that the blockade of the Lachin corridor can lead to irreversible humanitarian consequences of the people of Nagorno Karabakh,” he said.
The Prime Minister stressed the importance of taking measures to employ international genocide prevention mechanisms. “I mean, in particular, the mechanisms available within the framework of the UN, and I have given relevant instructions to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in this regard,” PM Pashinyan stated.
He attached importance to sending an international fact-finding mission to the Lachin corridor and Nagorno Karabakh, noting that it is important in terms of addressing the groundless statements of Azerbaijan claiming that Armenia has an army in Nagorno Karabakh and that Armenia is transporting military cargo to Artsakh.
“There is a Defense Army in Artsakh and its existence is justified as long as the people in Nagorno Karabakh are facing a threat of ethnic cleansing and genocide,” he said.
PM Pashinyan stressed, however, that the Defense Army is not the only mechanism to prevent genocide in Nagorno Karabakh. “One such mechanism is the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno Karabakh,” he said.
https://en.armradio.am/2023/03/16/armenia-set-to-employ-international-genocide-prevention-mechanisms-to-prevent-ethnic-cleansing-in-artsakh-pm/

Yuri Babakhanyan appointed Armenian Ambassador to Nepal

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1106202.html

United Arab Emirates names new Ambassador to Armenia

Dr. Naryman Mohammed Shariff Abdullah Al Mu’alla was sworn in before President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan along with several other new ambassadors.
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1106466.html

CSTO Secretary General visits Yerablur military pantheon in Yerevan

The Secretary General paid tribute to the memory of the fallen soldiers.
https://en.armradio.am/2023/03/17/csto-secretary-general-visits-yerablur-military-pantheon-in-yerevan/

Dictator Aliyev’s continued violence against Armenians demands condemnation in strongest terms – MEP Peter van Dalen

“I am outraged by Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin Corridor. And don’t forget: Aliyev has had troops within the borders of Armenia for several months. I recently witnessed the devastation of their shelling near the southern city of Goris myself,” the MEP said during the debates on the report on EU relations with Azerbaijan.
“Those few billion cubic meters of gas would have been available elsewhere. And above all: Aliyev now feels supported by the EU in his aggressive policy. The gas deal is a geopolitical mistake that needs to be dropped,” he stated.
https://en.armradio.am/2023/03/15/dictator-aliyevs-continued-violence-against-nagorno-karbakh-and-armenia-demands-condemnation-in-strongest-terms-mep-peter-van-dalen/

Zakharova answers the journalist's question about the possible withdrawal of Armenia from the CSTO

The Russian diplomat reminded that a plan to deploy a CSTO observation mission in Armenia was prepared, and the development of the relevant decision was practically completed at the meeting of the organization's statutory bodies held in Yerevan.
"At the same time, due to certain demands of Armenian partners, which were problematic for other CSTO members, it was not possible to take this decision," said Zakharova.
At the beginning of January, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that Armenia refused to host the "Indestructible Brotherhood-2023" military exercises of the collective rapid reaction forces of the CSTO in its territory. And on March 10, it became known that Armenia, according to the relevant procedure, applied to the CSTO to give up its quota of the CSTO Deputy Secretary General.
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1106492.html

Armenia is Russia's strategic partner. The session of the inter-parliamentary commission on cooperation between the RA NA and the RF RF was held in Tsaghkadzor

The Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly referred to the regional security and existing threats, the illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor. Hakob Arshakyan reminded that the Lachin Corridor is the only way of life for the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, and in the current situation, around 120,000 Armenians living there have been deprived of essential goods and services, including vital medicines and medical assistance.
Hakob Arshakyan reminded that the International Court of Justice of the United Nations obliged Azerbaijan to take all the necessary measures to ensure unhindered movement through the Lachin Corridor.
The members of the inter-parliamentary commission and the representatives of the executive authorities of the two countries referred to the issues and achievements of humanitarian and economic cooperation, as well as the prospects of Russian-Armenian cooperation in the context of supporting measures aimed at the spread of Russian in Armenia and Armenian in Russia.
The steps aimed at spreading the Russian language in Armenia, educational events, programs implemented in the scientific and educational sphere, prospects for expanding interregional cooperation were presented. The member of the inter-parliamentary commission, Alexey Sandikov, noticed that in Armenia Russian is the second language after the mother tongue. He highlighted the decision of the Russian side to send 60,000 textbooks to Armenia, which can be a special step towards the promotion of the Russian language.
The speakers expressed their belief that the work of the inter-parliamentary cooperation committee will give a new impetus to the bilateral relations.
At the end of the session, a memorandum of cooperation was signed between Tavush region of Armenia and Krasnoyarsk region of Russia.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1106572.html

Armenian deminers complete clearance of 88,000 sq.m territory in Aleppo Governorate, Syria

Armenian specialists from the Center for Humanitarian Demining and Expertise – deployed to Syria since 2019 – have completed the demining of 88,000 square meters of land in the Aleppo Governorate
The completion of the clearing operation featured a ceremonial commissioning of the territory where the Aleppo Governorate authorities accepted the cleared area from the deminers.
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1106427.html

Armenia emphasizes the involvement of the Office of the UNHCR Commissioner in ensuring the return of displaced Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh

According to the source, the interlocutors referred to the latest developments in the region, as well as the priorities of the Republic of Armenia in the issues of refugees, internally displaced persons, migration and other issues related to the sphere.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia highlighted the involvement of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in ensuring the return of displaced Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020. according to the tripartite statement of November 9.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1106610.html

Last year's performance of "Enterprise Armenia" investment support center was presented to the Prime Minister

It was reported that more than 610 businessmen and investors applied to "Enterprise Armenia" in the reporting year, and since its creation, the structure has provided support to more than 1,600 businessmen at various stages. More than 280 investment initiatives have been worked on. The number of current investment projects supported is 40 with an expected volume of 2.4-3.2 billion USD, 26 projects have already been launched with an expected volume of around 350 million USD.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1106566.html

The Armenian Foreign Ministry responded to Aliyev's false claims and bellicose statements

"On March 16, the speech of the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, during the summit of the heads of the Turkic states, was a clear manifestation of territorial claims against the Republic of Armenia and preparations for another aggression.
Azerbaijan continuously obstructs the return of refugees and internally displaced persons to Nagorno-Karabakh and neighboring regions, while at the same time announcing that it is going to resettle the territories that came under its control as a result of the deportation of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Violating essentially all the articles of the tripartite declaration of November 9, 2020, the President of Azerbaijan is obstructing the process of opening regional communications by his own admission and fictitious talk about the corridors.
The belligerent rhetoric of the leader of Azerbaijan is aimed at completely disrupting the efforts to establish stability in the South Caucasus and resorting to the use of large-scale force against both the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. Moreover, the insulting language used against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is accompanied by actions aimed at creating a humanitarian disaster on the ground, demonstrates Azerbaijan's unconcealed policy of ethnic cleansing at the highest level.
Moreover, voicing such provocative theses in Ankara aims not only to undermine the ongoing peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but also to inhibit the positive dynamics in the process of Armenia-Turkey relations.
"All partners interested in the stability and peace of the region should immediately evaluate the similar policy of the President of Azerbaijan and take active steps to eliminate the violations of international law by Azerbaijan and exclude the use of force."
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1106518.html

For now, Azerbaijan has confirmed participation in upcoming European weightlifting Championships in Armenia

The championships will be held in the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concert Complex on April 15-23. The opening ceremony is scheduled for April 14.
With 29 days to go, the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Arayik Harutyunyan and Deputy Minister Karen Giloyan announced the start of the countdown to the European Adult Weightlifting Championships during a ceremony at the Northern Avenue.
https://en.armradio.am/2023/03/17/for-now-azerbaijan-has-confirmed-participation-in-upcoming-european-weightlifting-championships-in-armenia/

Armenian, Russian FMs to meet in Moscow on March 20

Zakharova stressed that during the meeting, Lavrov and Mirzoyan will discuss “steps to further develop bilateral cooperation, strengthen interaction in common integration platforms – the CIS, the EAEU, the CSTO.”
“The discussion will focus on regional issues, including the settlement of the situation around the Lachin corridor and, in Nagorno-Karabakh, in general, the implementation of trilateral agreements between the Russian Federation, Armenia and Azerbaijan. We expect that the upcoming meeting will help improve the quality of the dialogue with Yerevan, as well as work to strengthen security and stability in the South Caucasus,” the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized.
Earlier, Lavrov held a meeting with Mirzoyan in New Delhi on March 3 on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
https://en.armradio.am/2023/03/16/armenian-russian-fms-to-meet-in-moscow-on-march-20/

We should not deviate from the reform agenda for a second. Pashinyan to Khachaturian

read the full thing here its too long

Magnitude 5.1 earthquake hits Iran, felt in Armenia

https://en.armradio.am/2023/03/16/magnitude-5-1-earthquake-hits-iran-felt-in-armenia-2/

Control measures will be implemented in some dairy companies

Control measures will be implemented in the mentioned companies, the results will be published.
At the same time, we inform you that the Inspection Body carries out its activities on the basis of the norms defined by legal acts. Accordingly, inspections can be conducted only on the basis of the inspection program approved by the Board of the Inspection Authority and complaints received from citizens, state and local self-government bodies, and non-governmental organizations.
In addition to the " Hotline " calls, the Ministry of Health and Welfare also registers and processes the information received through the mass media, social networks, and e-mails about the violation of food safety norms as an alarm.
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In 2022, 1.3 billion drams worth of construction was carried out in penitentiary institutions

https://hy.armradio.am/2023/03/17/2022-%d5%a9%d5%be%d5%a1%d5%af%d5%a1%d5%b6%d5%ab%d5%b6-%d6%84%d6%80%d5%a5%d5%a1%d5%af%d5%a1%d5%bf%d5%a1%d6%80%d5%b8%d5%b2%d5%a1%d5%af%d5%a1%d5%b6-%d5%b0%d5%ab%d5%b4%d5%b6%d5%a1%d6%80%d5%af%d5%b6%d5%a5/

Brunette's song "Future lover" has 1 million views

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Why did this Russian propagandist get banned from the Republic of Armenia?

Watch Akrav History's new video about it all

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ਰਾਗੁ ਸੂਹੀ ਮਹਲਾ ੩ ਘਰੁ ੧ ਅਸਟਪਦੀਆ ॥

Raag Soohee, Third Mehl, First House, Ashtapadees:

ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥

One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru:

ਨਾਮੈ ਹੀ ਤੇ ਸਭੁ ਕਿਛੁ ਹੋਆ ਬਿਨੁ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਨਾਮੁ ਨ ਜਾਪੈ ॥

Everything comes from the Naam, the Name of the Lord; without the True Guru, the Naam is not experienced.

ਗੁਰ ਕਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਮਹਾ ਰਸੁ ਮੀਠਾ ਬਿਨੁ ਚਾਖੇ ਸਾਦੁ ਨ ਜਾਪੈ ॥

The Word of the Guru's Shabad is the sweetest and most sublime essence, but without tasting it, its flavor cannot be experienced.

ਕਉਡੀ ਬਦਲੈ ਜਨਮੁ ਗਵਾਇਆ ਚੀਨਸਿ ਨਾਹੀ ਆਪੈ ॥

He wastes this human life in exchange for a mere shell; he does not understand his own self.

ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਹੋਵੈ ਤਾ ਏਕੋ ਜਾਣੈ ਹਉਮੈ ਦੁਖੁ ਨ ਸੰਤਾਪੈ ॥੧॥

But, if he becomes Gurmukh, then he comes to know the One Lord, and the disease of egotism does not afflict him. 1

ਬਲਿਹਾਰੀ ਗੁਰ ਅਪਣੇ ਵਿਟਹੁ ਜਿਨਿ ਸਾਚੇ ਸਿਉ ਲਿਵ ਲਾਈ ॥

I am a sacrifice to my Guru, who has lovingly attached me to the True Lord.

ਸਬਦੁ ਚੀਨਿੑ ਆਤਮੁ ਪਰਗਾਸਿਆ ਸਹਜੇ ਰਹਿਆ ਸਮਾਈ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥

Concentrating on the Word of the Shabad, the soul is illumined and enlightened. I remain absorbed in celestial ecstasy. 1Pause

ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਗਾਵੈ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਬੂਝੈ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਸਬਦੁ ਬੀਚਾਰੇ ॥

The Gurmukh sings the Praises of the Lord; the Gurmukh understands. The Gurmukh contemplates the Word of the Shabad.

ਜੀਉ ਪਿੰਡੁ ਸਭੁ ਗੁਰ ਤੇ ਉਪਜੈ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਕਾਰਜ ਸਵਾਰੇ ॥

Body and soul are totally rejuvenated through the Guru; the Gurmukh's affairs are resolved in his favor.

ਮਨਮੁਖਿ ਅੰਧਾ ਅੰਧੁ ਕਮਾਵੈ ਬਿਖੁ ਖਟੇ ਸੰਸਾਰੇ ॥

The blind self-willed manmukh acts blindly, and earns only poison in this world.

ਮਾਇਆ ਮੋਹਿ ਸਦਾ ਦੁਖੁ ਪਾਏ ਬਿਨੁ ਗੁਰ ਅਤਿ ਪਿਆਰੇ ॥੨॥

Enticed by Maya, he suffers in constant pain, without the most Beloved Guru. 2

ਸੋਈ ਸੇਵਕੁ ਜੇ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਸੇਵੇ ਚਾਲੈ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਭਾਏ ॥

He alone is a selfless servant, who serves the True Guru, and walks in harmony with the True Guru's Will.

ਸਾਚਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਸਿਫਤਿ ਹੈ ਸਾਚੀ ਸਾਚਾ ਮੰਨਿ ਵਸਾਏ ॥

The True Shabad, the Word of God, is the True Praise of God; enshrine the True Lord within your mind.

ਸਚੀ ਬਾਣੀ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਆਖੈ ਹਉਮੈ ਵਿਚਹੁ ਜਾਏ ॥

The Gurmukh speaks the True Word of Gurbani, and egotism departs from within.

ਆਪੇ ਦਾਤਾ ਕਰਮੁ ਹੈ ਸਾਚਾ ਸਾਚਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਸੁਣਾਏ ॥੩॥

He Himself is the Giver, and True are His actions. He proclaims the True Word of the Shabad. 3

ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਘਾਲੇ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਖਟੇ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਜਪਾਏ ॥

The Gurmukh works, and the Gurmukh earns; the Gurmukh inspires others to chant the Naam.

ਸਦਾ ਅਲਿਪਤੁ ਸਾਚੈ ਰੰਗਿ ਰਾਤਾ ਗੁਰ ਕੈ ਸਹਜਿ ਸੁਭਾਏ ॥

He is forever unattached, imbued with the Love of the True Lord, intuitively in harmony with the Guru.

ਮਨਮੁਖੁ ਸਦ ਹੀ ਕੂੜੋ ਬੋਲੈ ਬਿਖੁ ਬੀਜੈ ਬਿਖੁ ਖਾਏ ॥

The self-willed manmukh always tells lies; he plants the seeds of poison, and eats only poison.

ਜਮਕਾਲਿ ਬਾਧਾ ਤ੍ਰਿਸਨਾ ਦਾਧਾ ਬਿਨੁ ਗੁਰ ਕਵਣੁ ਛਡਾਏ ॥੪॥

He is bound and gagged by the Messenger of Death, and burnt in the fire of desire; who can save him, except the Guru? 4

ਸਚਾ ਤੀਰਥੁ ਜਿਤੁ ਸਤ ਸਰਿ ਨਾਵਣੁ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਆਪਿ ਬੁਝਾਏ ॥

True is that place of pilgrimage, where one bathes in the pool of Truth, and achieves self-realization as Gurmukh. The Gurmukh understands his own self.

ਅਠਸਠਿ ਤੀਰਥ ਗੁਰ ਸਬਦਿ ਦਿਖਾਏ ਤਿਤੁ ਨਾਤੈ ਮਲੁ ਜਾਏ ॥

The Lord has shown that the Word of the Guru's Shabad is the sixty-eight sacred shrines of pilgrimage; bathing in it, filth is washed away.

ਸਚਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਸਚਾ ਹੈ ਨਿਰਮਲੁ ਨਾ ਮਲੁ ਲਗੈ ਨ ਲਾਏ ॥

True and Immaculate is the True Word of His Shabad; no filth touches or clings to Him.

ਸਚੀ ਸਿਫਤਿ ਸਚੀ ਸਾਲਾਹ ਪੂਰੇ ਗੁਰ ਤੇ ਪਾਏ ॥੫॥

True Praise, True Devotional Praise, is obtained from the Perfect Guru. 5

ਤਨੁ ਮਨੁ ਸਭੁ ਕਿਛੁ ਹਰਿ ਤਿਸੁ ਕੇਰਾ ਦੁਰਮਤਿ ਕਹਣੁ ਨ ਜਾਏ ॥

Body, mind, everything belongs to the Lord; but the evil-minded ones cannot even say this.

ਹੁਕਮੁ ਹੋਵੈ ਤਾ ਨਿਰਮਲੁ ਹੋਵੈ ਹਉਮੈ ਵਿਚਹੁ ਜਾਏ ॥

If such is the Hukam of the Lord's Command, then one becomes pure and spotless, and the ego is taken away from within.

ਗੁਰ ਕੀ ਸਾਖੀ ਸਹਜੇ ਚਾਖੀ ਤ੍ਰਿਸਨਾ ਅਗਨਿ ਬੁਝਾਏ ॥

I have intuitively tasted the Guru's Teachings, and the fire of my desire has been quenched.

ਗੁਰ ਕੈ ਸਬਦਿ ਰਾਤਾ ਸਹਜੇ ਮਾਤਾ ਸਹਜੇ ਰਹਿਆ ਸਮਾਏ ॥੬॥

Attuned to the Word of the Guru's Shabad, one is naturally intoxicated, merging imperceptibly into the Lord. 6

ਹਰਿ ਕਾ ਨਾਮੁ ਸਤਿ ਕਰਿ ਜਾਣੈ ਗੁਰ ਕੈ ਭਾਇ ਪਿਆਰੇ ॥

The Name of the Lord is known as True, through the Love of the Beloved Guru.

ਸਚੀ ਵਡਿਆਈ ਗੁਰ ਤੇ ਪਾਈ ਸਚੈ ਨਾਇ ਪਿਆਰੇ ॥

True Glorious Greatness is obtained from the Guru, through the Beloved True Name.

ਏਕੋ ਸਚਾ ਸਭ ਮਹਿ ਵਰਤੈ ਵਿਰਲਾ ਕੋ ਵੀਚਾਰੇ ॥

The One True Lord is permeating and pervading among all; how rare is the one who contemplates this.

ਆਪੇ ਮੇਲਿ ਲਏ ਤਾ ਬਖਸੇ ਸਚੀ ਭਗਤਿ ਸਵਾਰੇ ॥੭॥

The Lord Himself unites us in Union, and forgives us; He embellishes us with true devotional worship. 7

ਸਭੋ ਸਚੁ ਸਚੁ ਸਚੁ ਵਰਤੈ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਕੋਈ ਜਾਣੈ ॥

All is Truth; Truth, and Truth alone is pervading; how rare is the Gurmukh who knows this.

ਜੰਮਣ ਮਰਣਾ ਹੁਕਮੋ ਵਰਤੈ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਆਪੁ ਪਛਾਣੈ ॥

Birth and death occur by the Hukam of His Command; the Gurmukh understands his own self.

ਨਾਮੁ ਧਿਆਏ ਤਾ ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਭਾਏ ਜੋ ਇਛੈ ਸੋ ਫਲੁ ਪਾਏ ॥

He meditates on the Naam, the Name of the Lord, and so pleases the True Guru. He receives whatever rewards he desires.

ਨਾਨਕ ਤਿਸ ਦਾ ਸਭੁ ਕਿਛੁ ਹੋਵੈ ਜਿ ਵਿਚਹੁ ਆਪੁ ਗਵਾਏ ॥੮॥੧॥

O Nanak, one who eradicates self-conceit from within, has everything. 81

Guru Amardas Ji • Raag Soohee • Ang 753

Thursday, March 16, 2023
Veervaar, 3 Chet, Nanakshahi 555
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh, I am a Robot. Bleep Bloop.
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Just fun meta stuff, I think. Those afflicted by Frenzy are usually shown to be those who've been driven mad by grief, have given up to it, and in addition gain the affliction of the flame; hollowing, as we all know, is when undead go mad and empty after they've given up. They both create people into former shells of themselves.
BUT. The biggest difference, is that hollowing is when you lose ALL goals; Frenzy, or at least the route when blessed by the Three Fingers, is where you're consumed by only one.
Hollowing, the continued course of the game is how you hold back the process itself. As long as you keep moving forward, you will never go hollow. But with the Flame route, you have to go out of your way for it, you have to kill and crawl down the narrow pathways and commit everything to it. Essentially, it becomes your character's only goal, especially in regards to the Flame ending.
I think it's also fun to note the same similarity/sharp contrast in the Flame ending against that of the Age of Fire endings, too. Ends that bring about their own destruction by cycling to something prior-- the Age of Fire, in continuing the world's stagnation and slow death. The Flame, in attempting to melt everything back down into an image of the Primordial Crucible.
Just neat!